Movie theater giant AMC's boss Adam Aron revealed as the mystery CEO who fell victim to a catfish blackmail scheme he called an 'elaborate criminal extortion'

• A woman was last year indicted after catfishing an anonymous CEO and threatening to release sexually explicit photos.
• Semafor reported Thursday that the CEO was Adam Aron, boss of movie theater giant AMC.

Adam Aron, the boss of the movie theater giant AMC, said he was "the victim of an elaborate criminal extortion," after it was revealed that he was the previously unnamed CEO subjected to a blackmail campaign in 2022.

Aron sent sexually explicit photos and messages to a catfish who tried to blackmail him for hundreds of thousands of dollars, Semafor first reported Thursday.

Prosecutors in the Southern District of New York indicted a woman called Sakoya Blackwood in August 2022, on charges of extortion and cyberstalking.

The indictment says she used multiple online identities in "a catfishing and extortion scheme," and threatened to release sexually explicit photos of an unnamed victim, in an attempt to obtain payments from them.

While the blackmail had been publicly reported by numerous media outlets in 2022, the identity of the CEO was not publicly known until Semafor's report.

Soon after Semafor reported that Aron was the victim in the case, he confirmed the news in a post on X.

"Unfortunately, last year I became the victim of an elaborate criminal extortion by a third party who was unknown to me," Aron said.

"Rather than give in to blackmail, I personally engaged counsel and other professional advisors and reported the matter to law enforcement. I did so knowing I risked personal embarrassment."

He added that he was asked by law enforcement to keep the matter confidential, and told AMC's board of directors about the incident after the extortionist was sentenced in July.

According to prosecutors, Blackwood somehow obtained the CEO's number and used the name "Mia." The CEO mistook her for a ballet dancer he had previously had a relationship with, per the court document.

The following day, Blackwood then asked him to send sexually explicit photos, and he complied — including sending one of him with another woman — prosecutors said.

When the victim asked for a picture of her, she sent a picture of a Russian model taken from her Instagram account, according to Semafor.

The elaborate scheme also involved Blackwood posing as the boyfriend of "Mia," and a Vanity Fair reporter, before threatening to release the images unless he paid $300,000, per the court document.

According to Semafor, Aron has been married since 1987.

Blackwood pleaded guilty, per the court document, and Aron said she was sentenced in July to almost a year in prison.

In a statement to Semafor, AMC's board said: "The board retained independent counsel, WilmerHale, to look into the incident. The board determined it was a personal matter, and considers the issue resolved."

AMC did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.