Suspect in Milwaukee Bucks Owner Blackmail Case Released on Bail

Changli “Sophia” Luo was released from custody in June 2025 on a $500,000 bond after her arrest on federal charges of attempting to blackmail Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Wesley Edens. The bond was posted by Robin Mui, who runs Sing Tao US, the New York arm of a Chinese-owned media organization that registered as a foreign agent with the Justice Department in 2021.

Documents show Mui provided $100,000 in cash toward the bond, securing Luo’s release on house arrest at a Park Avenue residence in Manhattan. Luo, 46, who operates the New York nonprofit One World Initiative Advocacy, is accused of initiating contact with Edens through LinkedIn, engaging in a sexual relationship, and then demanding $1.2 billion — half of his reported $2.5 billion fortune — while threatening to release compromising videos and images.

Prosecutors said she received $1 million from Edens as part of an initial payoff but later reneged on the agreement. She has pleaded not guilty to four counts. During a Dec. 3 court hearing, federal prosecutors argued Luo posed a flight risk because she had transferred hundreds of thousands of dollars to accounts in China, maintained more assets there than in the United States, and had family members living in the country.

She was taken into custody after booking a flight from JFK International Airport to Hong Kong. Her attorney countered that she is not a Chinese citizen, had surrendered her U.S. passport, and intended only to visit her sick father. The government requested home detention with GPS monitoring.

The U.S. arm of the company has received millions from its parent organization in Hong Kong, now under Beijing’s control. The company has maintained that it operates as a legitimate news outlet serving the Chinese expatriate community and is not acting on behalf of any government.

Campaign finance records show the Los Angeles arm of Sing Tao contributed $3,300 on Aug. 9, 2022, to the campaign of the mayor of Arcadia, California. Mui later stated that the campaign had made an error on its filings and that his company had never contributed.

” On Monday the mayor of Arcadia resigned and agreed to plead guilty to one count of acting in the United States as an illegal agent of the Chinese government. The charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison. Officials said the conduct involved promoting pro-Beijing content without notifying the U.S. government as required by law and occurred before she took office in December 2022.

No city resources were involved. The mayor and a colleague operated a news website targeting the Chinese American community and were directed by Chinese government officials to post favorable material, including an article denying reports of abuses against Uyghurs in Xinjiang.

Her attorneys described the actions as “past personal mistakes” linked to a former personal relationship.

Mui previously met with two top advisers to then-New York Mayor Eric Adams in spring 2022, shortly after registering as a foreign agent. He did not disclose the meeting at the time. Attempts to reach Mui for comment Tuesday at his offices on Lafayette Street in Manhattan were unsuccessful.

Luo’s connections to Mui and the Arcadia mayor have prompted questions about possible coordinated influence activities. A senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies told The Post that Chinese-language media outlets, nonprofits focused on U.S.-China cooperation, and individuals in local office sometimes receive funding from similar sources and advance aligned interests, though no direct evidence linking the three in this case has been presented in court.

" — Emily de La Bruyere, Foundation for Defense of Democracies (New York Post) Federal officials have not charged Luo with any foreign-agent violations. Her case remains pending. The Milwaukee Bucks have not commented on the allegations involving their co-owner.