Cindy Crawford is "blackmail victim"

Cindy Crawford has been victim of a $100,000 blackmail plot over pictures of her eight-year-old bound and gagged.

The supermodel and her husband Rande Gerber were contacted by German model Edis Kayalar, who said he had stolen the photographs from the couple’s former nanny. He threatened to sell the images to the media unless Cindy paid him the money.

According to documents lodged in a Los Angeles court, Cindy’s daughter Kaia told her parents the images had been taken as a “prank” during a game of “cops and robbers” with her former nanny.

Kayalar told Cindy, 43, and Rande, 47, the pictures were “sexy” in nature and demanded a meeting in Venice, California, to hand over the cash.

Cindy and Rande’s legal complaint reads: “Kayalar claimed he had a ‘sexy’ photograph of the victim's daughter in revealing clothing bound to a chair and gagged.

“Later the same day the victims received another telephone call from Kayalar who asked to meet Gerber at a bar to give him the photograph. Kayalar hinted he was broke and would like a monetary reward for returning the photograph.”

Kayalar allegedly showed Rande a copy of the image on his mobile phone, saying he had left the original with a friend. Rande paid him $1,000 to destroy the photo, but Kayalar phoned back two days later and allegedly demanded more money.

Kayalar – who had been working as a model in America – was later deported to Germany due to an unrelated visa violation. But his threats continued from there, and the FBI has now lodged a request with German authorities to have him extradited on a charge of extortion. If he is convicted he will face a maximum two years in jail.

The former nanny has not been charged.

A spokesman for the couple said: “Rande Gerber and Cindy Crawford have been the victims of an ongoing extortion scheme. They intend to pursue all legal action against anyone who aids the perpetrator in the sale of the photograph of their daughter.”

Cindy and Rande also have a 10-year-old son, Presley.