An ex-model and real estate assistant is accused of running an extortion scam in which she allegedly threatened to share sexually suggestive text messages with a Michigan businessman's wife if he did not hand over $250,000.
According to an FBI affidavit obtained by The Smoking Gun, Mirella Dzioba, a.k.a. Mirella Moore, was arrested Monday and faces felony charges. The 33-year-old Bosnian emigre met her 61-year-old victim after a real estate closing in July, and subsequently met with him on several occasions.
The documents charge that Dzioba, a mother of three, flattered her victim and told him that she “enjoyed ‘strong’ men speaking to her in a sexual manner." After the victim left several sexually suggestive voicemails on Dzioba's voice mail, the former model texted the victim “what could fairly be described as suggestive photographs” of herself, according to the affidavit.
According to The Smoking Gun, Dzioba's Facebook page, which has since been deactivated, was "stocked with glamour shots." One photo published by the website shows Dzioba taking a "selfie" in a low-cut red dress, but it is unclear if that photo was sent to the victim.
After the victim hesitated to give Dzioba $1,400 to supposedly pay for a computer and classes, she allegedly threatened to call his wife. Once the victim agreed handed over the money, she demanded $250,000.
“If u think u can shut me up with 1400$ u r mistaken," Dzioba allegedly texted the victim. “All u got to do is pay and no one will ever know. Ever.”
The documents state that those communiques were soon accompanied by late-night phone calls. Afraid that things were out of control, the victim contacted the FBI and eventually negotiated to pay Dzioba $100,000 in $5,000 installments.
The FBI monitored a meeting in which the victim paid Dzioba $4,800 provided by agents last Tuesday. In the meeting, documents state, the woman demanded that additional money be paid by the end of the week.
If convicted, Dzioba could face up to five years in prison.
In contrast to the Dzioba case, high-profile "sextortion" crimes that have made news in recent years tend to have involved teens that have posted nude or near-nude photos of themselves on the Internet, only to be contacted by pornographers demanding additional or more explicit content.
But no matter what the crime, technology and sex can make for combustible situations. In August, a California prosecutor was questioned in connection with an arson at the home of his paramour, a former paid escort. Investigators cited racy texts sent to the woman by the prosecutor as a possible motive in the case.
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