Officials have a man in custody after there was another attempt to blackmail members of the Transformers: Age of Extinction crew in Hong Kong. This attempt followed one last week, when director Michael Bay was a target.
According to the South China Morning Post, a suspected triad member, 35, is in custody and Hong Kong police are looking for three others they suspect are involved.
The four men approached the crew at 2:30 p.m. Thursday local time on To Kwa Wan Road. They allegedly asked for money and the crew, which was just setting up, immediately called police. The man that is in custody is still at a police station and has yet to be charged.
It is suspected that the man is a triad member, meaning that they believe he is a member of organized crime, notes the Associated Press.
Hong Kong Directors Guild president Derek Yee Tung-sing called Thursday’s incident “ridiculous,” noting that this happening again is “more unusual than getting a jackpot.”
Just last week, two brothers were arrested for allegedly trying to get 100,000 Hong Kong dollars from Bay. While Bay was not injured in the incident, Paramount said that one of the men swung at him with an air conditioning unit.
“Transformers 4 could have attracted the attention due to its big scale,” Yee told the South China Morning Post. He noted that he hasn’t heard of extortion attempts at movie sets in years.
Transformers 4 is a Chinese co-production and will feature Chinese actors in lead roles. It will star Mark Wahlberg and is set for June 2014.
image: Paramount