Bizarre ransom case of Socialite Anne Bass

[Daily News] Former butler for Bass, Romanian national Emanuel Nicolescu, 32, was arraigned Thursday in federal court in Bridgeport, Conn., on extortion charges stemming a home invasion at Bass' Kent, Conn., mansion on April 15, 2007.

The ex-wife of billionaire businessman Sid Bass and her boyfriend, the artist Julian Lethbridge, were blindfolded, beaten and injected with a blue liquid they were told was a deadly virus.

Federal prosecutors claim that during the horrifying 12-hour ordeal, a masked Nicolescu and two accomplices, who have not been identified, attempted to get Bass to pay $8.5 million in exchange for the antidote.

Bass, who received a $150 million divorce settlement from Sid Bass, refused to pay and the assailants fled empty handed.

Nicolescu was fired a few months before the home invasion.

For the record, once again, The Vile Plutocrat does not support violence of any kind.