Cindy Crawford extortion suspect held

A former German model accused of trying to extort $100,000 from Cindy Crawford and her husband was taken into custody by German authorities.

U.S. authorities last week charged the man after he allegedly threatened to hand over to the media a photo of the couple’s then-7-year-old daughter, gagged and tied to a chair.

Edis “Eddie” Kayalar walked into a police station Monday in Stuttgart, Germany.

According to an FBI affidavit, Crawford and her husband, entrepreneur Rande Gerber, first got a call from Kayalar in July. The man told them he had a “sexy” photograph of their daughter in revealing clothing and later asked to meet.

Kayalar told Gerber he stole the photo from the child’s nanny, who had recently been fired by the couple. According to the affidavit, the nanny, who was not named, showed him the photo and said: “Do you know how much this picture is worth?”

Kayalar was arrested and deported in September.

-- Victoria Kim