Jesse is one of thousands of people across the country who California prosecutors say have been extorted by Mugshots.com. Between 2014 and 2017, Mugshots.com allegedly took more than $2.4 million in fees from at least 5,703 people nationwide who wanted their photos removed from the site, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in a news release Wednesday. About 175 of those individuals had billing addresses in California.
Becerra has filed charges of extortion, money laundering, and identity theft against four men who are allegedly behind Mugshots.com. The arrest warrant, which seeks to extradite the men to California, names Sahar Sarid, of Lighthouse Point, Thomas Keesee, of West Palm Beach, Kishore Vidya Bhavnanie, and David Usdan as the alleged owners and operators of Mugshots.com. None of the men could be located for comment. The website appears to still be operating as usual.
Mugshots.com is one of several websites nationwide that make money by publicizing arrest information and demanding fees through intermediary sites to swipe records clean.
Mugshots.com and similar websites say they are simply republishing arrest information that is already publicly available through government records. Mugshots.com shows a disclaimer in capitalized letters at the top of its Web page saying the information on its website is in no way an indication of guilt or evidence that an actual crime has been committed.
www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/fl-reg-mugshots-extortion-arrest-20180517-story.html