Yoko Ono bodyguard accused of extortion

(New York- WABC, December 13, 2006) (WABC) -- A bodyguard for Yoko Ono is under arrest, accused of trying to extort millions of dollars from her.

Eyewitness News is told that 50-year-old Koral Karsan was arrested at his home in Amityville Wednesday afternoon.

Ono's security staff told NYPD detectives that Karsan wrote her in a rambling note that he had secretly photographed her and made audiotapes of her in private moments and would make the information public if she didn't pay him, police said.

Police said that on December 8th -- the 26th anniversary of John Lennon's death -- Karsan dropped the note and a photo of Ono at the Dakota apartment building where she lives.

Investigators say Karsan talked about killing her, her son and himself during a later conversation with one of her associates.

We're told that Yoko Ono informed the NYPD that her bodyguard was attempting to shake her down for $2 million dollars. They spent several hours at his home in Nassau County, but John Lennon's widow proved that she was not going to be taken advantage of easily.

Yoko Ono made it clear to Eyewitness News in an interview last year about what makes her so resilient -- her ability to protect herself.

"I think I've been accused of awful things in the past ... and if I was taking that seriously all the time, I'd be dead ... I'm still alive," she told Eyewitness News anchor Bill Ritter.

Karsan's neighbors said he didn't seem the type to do anything wrong.

"He's very, very quiet ... family oriented, devoted to his family," a neighbor said.

Karsan was taken to an Upper West Side precinct to be arraigned. As he walked in, he told me -- when I asked him if he tried to extort money from Yoko Ono -- "No, no way." He also told me he did not try to extort money from Yoko Ono.

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