Since Wednesday, Sahar Sarid, Thomas Keesee, and Kishore Vidya Bhavnanie have been held captive. The three of Mugshots.com owners were arrested and charged with extortion, money laundering, and identity theft, the Washington Post.
Apparently, Mugshots.com harvested people's mug shots and charged them exorbitant fees to have the photos removed. It gets worse though. According to the Root, the removal fees for the site range from $399 and up.
Over the last few years, "many people have filed lawsuits against the site, citing embarrassment and saying that just because a booking photo was taken doesn't mean that a person has been prosecuted for a crime."
However, the dread of someone, like a prospective employer, Google one's name and coming across a mug shot can be very detrimental to their career, among other things.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra stated,
"Once subjects request that their booking photos be removed, they are routed to a secondary website called Unpublisharrest.com and charged a 'de-publishing' fee to have the content removed. Mugshots.com does not remove criminal record information until a subject pays the fee."
"This pay-for-removal scheme attempts to profit off of someone else’s humiliation,” said Becerra. “Those who can’t afford to pay into this scheme to have their information removed pay the price when they look for a job, housing, or try to build relationships with others. This is exploitation, plain and simple."
Source: theroot.com
