NEW YORK, (Reuters) – A Bahamian man has been arrested for hacking celebrities’ email accounts to steal movie and TV scripts, personal information and sexually explicit videos that he peddled to an undercover agent, federal prosecutors in New York said on Tuesday.
Alonzo Knowles, 23, was held without bail after an appearance in Manhattan federal court on criminal copyright infringement and identity theft charges.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said the case had the elements of the type of blockbuster scripts Knowles is alleged to have stolen. “Unfortunately, these circumstances are all too real,” he said in a statement.
Knowles kept of at least 130 celebrities’ emails and phone numbers, a criminal complaint said, and noted his victims included movie and TV actors, a casting director, a popular singer-songwriter and a hip-hop artist.