Extortion attempt by individual against New York Life backfires

Californian Anthony Digati, 52,
stands accused of choosing extortion as a novel approach to
expressing his dissatisfaction with the performance of a variable
universal life insurance product he purchased from New York Life
(NYL), a company for which he once worked as an agent and
manager.

According to his indictment by the
US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Preet Bharara,
Digati assaulted NYL in February this year with an attempt to
coerce them into paying him $198,303 – four times the premiums he
had paid.

According to Bharara, Digati
emailed NYL directing them to a website he had created. On the
vehemently anti-NYL website, he stated that if NYL did not meet his
demands before 8 March he would send emails running down NYL to 6m
NYL policyholders directing them to the website.

Following this, noted Bharara in
the indictment, Digati then threatened that if NYL did not submit
to his demands he would up his price to $3m to close the website
down.

Digati was arrested on 6 March and
if found guilty faces a maximum sentence of two years in prison and
a maximum fine of $250,000.

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