Buffalo Sabres owner Terry Pegula was among five businessmen targeted by an aspiring Hollywood actor in an extortion plot.
In a story first reported by the website The Smoking Gun, 25-year-old actor Vivek Shah was arrested by federal agents earlier this month after he sent threatening letters to Pegula, Hollywood producer Harry Weinstein, and three others in June and July.
In the letters, Shah threatened to kill family members of the recipients unless they wired large sums of money to an offshore bank account.
Shah was arrested in Chicago on August 10. He is charged in a federal complaint with sending threatening interstate communications, a crimes that carry a maximum 40 year prison term if convicted.
Weinstein, one of the most powerful film producers in Hollywood, attended the University at Buffalo. There has been no comment from the Buffalo Sabres.