SHADY

Woman Arrested for Extortion Scheme Against Eliot Spitzer

Accused the former NY gov of choking her in February.

Police in New York say a woman has been arrested and faces charges of grand larceny by extortion for trying to dupe former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer out of $50,000. The woman has been identified as a 25-year-old Russian named Svetlana Zakharova Travis. She fled the U.S. after accusing Spitzer of choking her at the Plaza Hotel back in February but was taken into custody Monday after returning. After the alleged assault near Central Park last spring, the woman reportedly slit her wrists and made the accusations against Spitzer only after police questioned her at the hospital. At that time, local media cited sources saying she had known Spitzer for two years and the two had argued over her plans to return to Russia. She is due to appear at the Manhattan Criminal Court on Tuesday. Spitzer, whose career famously imploded in 2008 after he was linked to a prostitution scandal, has denied the assault.