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LISA MULLINS: A Swiss man named Helg Sgarbi was making out like a bandit – or, to be more precise, like a gigolo. He was defrauding four wealthy women to the tune of millions of dollars. He was about to hit up his most lucrative target for tens of millions more. The woman is a German heiress. Sgarbi threatened to release a compromising video of the two of them together in a hotel room unless she paid up. She went to the police instead. Beate Wild is a reporter with Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper. She's been following the case of the gigolo. First, his intended victim, Beate. According to prosecutors, who was this heiress?

BEATE WILD: Her name is Suzanna Klatten is a millionaire from Munich, and she's supposed to be the richest person in Germany. She's the daughter of the family Klatten and this family owns the majority of BMW, the car maker.

MULLINS: Oh. So one could understand his attraction to her. Maybe there were other reasons as well, but they had apparently some kind of a relationship. Today, he – meaning Helg Sgarbi – was charged with attempted extortion and fraud. What was the verdict?

WILD: The verdict was arrest for six years. At the beginning of the trial, Sgarbi made all of a sudden a confession. He said to the court, “I'd like to say to the affected ladies that I'm very sorry.” This confession helped him to get less years of arrest. But all the money, altogether more than 9 million Euro is gone.

MULLINS: So about roughly $11 million dollars or so from these women. Is it clear exactly how he did it? What his persuasive powers were?

WILD: He told them fairy tales of accidents. He invented stories, that the mafia stole money from him. And apparently a very charismatic person, a very charming man. And all these women were attracted to him.

MULLINS: Was that kind of persuasive power, that kind of charisma on display in the court?

WILD: Yeah. He was very charming with the journalists. He was flirting with some ladies.

MULLINS: How would you describe this man?

WILD: Oh. He's not very pretty. He's a very normal guy, but nothing special. It must depend on his charisma that he could convince all these ladies.

MULLINS: Beate Wild, thank you very much. Beate Wild is a reporter with Suddeutsche Zeitung. She was in the courtroom today when Helg Sgarbi was sentenced to six years in prison for attempted extortion and fraud – the victims being among the wealthiest women in Germany.

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