Somali man gets 16-year sentence for extortion of Muslim men

A man who orchestrated a years-long online extortion and sexual abuse campaign targeting young Muslim men has been sentenced to 16 years in prison. Waleed Saeed, 31, from Ilford, east London, was sentenced at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Friday, June 19, 2026, after being convicted of 17 offences including assault, blackmail, and making indecent images of children.

The court heard that Saeed, a British-born man of Somali descent, created more than 100 fake social media profiles on platforms including Snapchat, Instagram, and Grindr. He posed as a young woman or a transgender woman, using aliases such as "Trans Girl Leah," "amzyyyy09," and variations of "blsup" and "ComeDeal." After gaining the trust of his victims, he convinced them to send intimate photos and videos. He then revealed his true identity and threatened to expose the material to their families, friends, universities, and communities unless they paid him money or complied with further demands.

Lead investigator Detective Constable Peter Collington said Saeed began offending in 2018 and deliberately targeted young men from Muslim and south Asian backgrounds, believing they would be less likely to contact police due to...