MAN CHARGED OVER CINDY CRAWFORD AND RANDE GERBER EXTORTION PLOT

Cops in the U.S. have launched an international manhunt after charging a suspect over an attempt to extort $100,000 from Cindy Crawford and her husband Rande Gerber.

Gerber paid Edis Kayalar, the acquaintance of a former nanny, $1,000 to keep a controversial snap of their young daughter bound to a chair in revealing clothing away from the media and internet.

But Kayalar threatened to sell the picture to the press for $500,000 before he was deported to his native Germany in September (09).

He continued his threats to sell the picture earlier this month (Nov09), and demanded $100,000 from the couple to keep it private - prompting the model and her husband to call in the FBI.

Kayalar was charged with extortion on Thursday night (12Nov09) and authorities are now searching for him in Germany, according to the New York Daily News.

The model's representatives insist the controversial photo at the center of the extortion plot was taken by the nanny during a game of cops and robbers, without Crawford's knowledge.