A grand jury has indicted a reputed Russian escort for extorting nearly $400,000 from hooker-loving ex-governor Eliot Spitzer and targeting another unnamed victim in a housing scheme, according to newly filed court papers.
Svetlana Travis Zakharova, 25, was hit with a 20-count indictment and faces a top charge of second-degree grand larceny.
The leggy blond allegedly shook down the “Love Gov” in an elaborate extortion scheme by threatening to expose their relationship to his family and the public, according to prosecutors. Spitzer made regular hush-money payments to her of $3,000 to $50,000 a pop between 2014 and 2016.
But the bulk of the charges stem from an unrelated fraud that took place during the same time period.
She faces 16 counts of forgery, falsifying business records and criminal possession of a forged instrument for copying the signature of a man with whom she had a prior relationship on a lease agreement for an apartment, according to prosecutors and the indictment.
It isn’t clear whether the victim, who sued her for damages, was a friend or former lover.
Zakharova is expected to be arraigned on the felony charges Tuesday afternoon in Manhattan Supreme Court before Justice Charles Solomon.
Spitzer’s sordid relationship with Zakharova was exposed in February after she accused him of choking her at the Plaza Hotel.
While authorities investigated the allegations, she fled to her home country. When she returned to the U.S. Oct. 10 on a flight from Russia, she was arrested at JFK airport.
She’s being held on $1 million bond and faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted of the top charge.
The former governor was forced to resign in 2008 after he was caught up in a hooker scandal. His wife, Silda, with whom he shares three daughters, divorced him in 2014.