Svetlana Travis and Eliot Spitzer
Svetlana Travis may have made demanded money from Eliot Spitzer before she boarded her plane back to Russia.
Travis, who accused Spitzer over the weekend of choking her at the Plaza Hotel, also asked the former governor and head of Spitzer Enterprises to upgrade her plane ticket.
Spitzer apparently obliged, at least on the upgrade, the New York Post reported, citing an NYPD source.
The police seized Travis’s phone at JFK, just before she jetted to Moscow, and found deleted text messages containing the demands, the source told the Post.
Travis, who recanted her accusations and ceased cooperating with police before her departure, nonetheless remained a victim and not a suspect, an NYPD spokesperson told the paper.
Police also said that Travis abandoned three packed suitcases at the Plaza, according to the Post.
Earlier this week, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus recused himself from the assault investigation, citing close personal and professional ties with Spitzer. [NYP] – Ariel Stulberg