Attorneys Charged|With Extortion Conspiracy

LOS ANGELES (CN) - A woman who allegedly claimed falsely that a Saudi sheik's son had raped and tortured her was charged Monday with conspiracy to commit extortion, along with her two Orange County attorneys, the L.A. County district attorney said.

Police last week arrested German national Leyla Ors, 34, and attorneys Joseph Gerard Cavallo, 58, and Emanuel Karl Hudson, 58. They were charged with attempted extortion, conspiracy to commit extortion, conspiracy to receive a bribe and conspiracy to obstruct justice, District Attorney Jackie Lacey's office said Monday in a statement.

In March, Ors told authorities that Thamer Albalwi, 23, the son of Saudi Sheikh Monsur Albalwi, had raped and tortured her. After a physical examination that showed evidence of burns on her arms, police charged Albalwi on March 13 with sexual assault, according to Lacey's statement.

As Albalwi's personal assistant, Ors allegedly entered into a relationship with the Sheik's son so as to spin the trumped-up allegations to authorities. Ors burned her arm with a cigarette to back up her claims, the Los Angeles Times reported.

"But in June, Hudson spoke by phone with Albalwi's father and told him that for $15 million, Ors would not testify against the son and 'the case would be over,'" Lacey's office said in the statement.

It continues: "On the same day, Cavallo spoke by phone to Sheikh Albalwi and said the demand was $20 million and Hudson would set up an account in Lucerne (Switzerland), according to the overt acts in the complaint."

Ors, who faces one additional count of offering to receive a bribe by a witness, was scheduled for arraignment Monday. Prosecutors want a judge to set bail at $35,000. She is in custody.

Cavallo will be arraigned on Tuesday, and Hudson on July 31, prosecutors said. The two attorneys are free on $50,000 bond.

If convicted, each defendant could spend up to four years in prison.

"Based on evidence uncovered in an ongoing investigation, the sexual assault case against Thamer Albalwi was dismissed Friday by Judge James Dabney at the Airport Court," the District Attorney's Office said.

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