Chinese Woman Accused of Trying to Blackmail Milwaukee Bucks Co-Owner Has Ties to Foreign Agent

The Chinese-born divorcée accused of trying to blackmail the billionaire co-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks is suspected of being a temptress operating for the communist nation notorious for flooding America with ruthless spies.

The alluring Changli “Sophia” Luo, who was indicted for extortion stemming from the alleged honeypot scheme targeting businessman Wesley Edens, was released on $500,000 bail posted by Robin Mui, a registered foreign agent operating a New York City–based pro–Communist Party newspaper for Beijing. She has pleaded not guilty, per The New York Post.

The same Mui also donated $3,300 to the campaign of Eileen Wang, the former mayor of Arcadia, Calif., who recently pleaded guilty to illegally operating as a foreign agent and operating a bogus news site that really served as a propaganda arm for officials barking orders directly from China, The New York Post also reported.

Wayne Madsen, a national security expert, tells Globe the Chinese spymasters have been targeting politicians and business titans across America in what he describes as an “asset of influence” campaign to manipulate public policy and help insert other spies in high-value government jobs and tech companies.

“This is not an unusual case with Chinese intelligence,” Madsen says about the alleged operation. “It’s sort of a different type of intelligence operation in that it’s not directed at trying to recruit CIA agents to work for them. It’s a grassroots intelligence operation to gain influence.”

As readers know, China has quietly embedded spies posing as students and researchers at American universities to steal technology along with health and defense secrets. China has also taken advantage of U.S. birthright citizenship to create a massive army of American-born Chinese soldiers loyal to the homeland.

Luo, who runs New York–based nonprofit One World Initiative Advocacy, is accused of contacting Edens, 64, via LinkedIn, bedding the patsy, then threatening to send compromising videos and pictures to his family and the media, according to federal documents obtained by Globe.

“Luo demanded $1.215 billion, or else she threatened she would, among other things, report criminal acts to ‘government offices,’ including a federal agency related to one of [Edens’] businesses,” states the recently unsealed criminal complaint.

Luo, 46, remains under home detention and has refuted the blackmail charge, claiming she was seeking compensation for “an inappropriate and aggressive sexual encounter,” as reported by The Wall Street Journal.