A blackmail gang attempted to extort tens of thousands of pounds from two married businessmen after having sex with them, a court heard.
Kamar Ilyas, 34, slept with the two victims, who felt compelled to keep their sexuality a secret from their communities, before the plot developed into aggressive threats. The scheme involved threatening to tell the wives of the victims and share explicit footage of the sexual encounters on social media.
Both victims were married to women but directly contacted Ilyas who was using false names both on male escort websites and the dating app Grindr. They were persuaded to meet up but soon found themselves victims of blackmail plots in which they were ordered to pay up or face consequences.
