A man has appeared in court charged with a £5 million blackmail attempt after he allegedly stole clients' information from the exclusive Soho House and threatened to sell it.
The exclusive private members' club Soho House was targeted in a £5 million blackmail bid after a man threatened to sell clients' information, a court has heard.
A man has been charged with allegedly staging a multi-million pound sting at the world-renowned club, popular with the likes of Harry and Meghan, who had their first and second dates in July 2016 at the Dean Street establishment in London.
Amit Sharma, 50, appeared at Bromley Magistrates' Court where he faced three charges. Magistrates heard that between June 30 and August 8 last year he allegedly asked for £5 million from Soho House boss Andrew Carnie in a blackmail attempt.
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The second charge says Sharma had unauthorized computer access with intent to commit other offenses between June 1 and August 9, 2025. The charge sheet reads that in London in the Borough of Westminster, Sharma caused a computer to perform a function with intent to secure unauthorized access to a program or data...and with intent to commit an offense to which section 2 of the Computer Misuse Act 1990 applied, namely retained customer data. He is also charged with harassment of Soho House employees between the same dates.
Soho House & Co is the parent company of dozens of private members' clubs around the world. Harry and Meghan are said to be members of the exclusive club - with a waiting list of more than 99,000 - alongside the Beckhams, Taylor Swift, Margot Robbie, Kate Moss, and James Corden.
The company is also thought to include celebrity members including Leonardo DiCaprio, the Gallagher brothers, and Kendall Jenner. There is no suggestion that any of their personal details were compromised.
Sharma, of Bromley, south London, spoke only to confirm his name, date of birth, and address. Marcia Evans, prosecuting, said the charges were based on allegations that Sharma had been "sending numerous messages to the company saying he would sell details of their clients."
Sharma was given bail, with the condition that he does not contact any Soho House employees. The case was sent to Woolwich Crown Court, with the next hearing on June 8.
Soho House has 48 houses across 19 countries. Its first location opened at 40 Greek Street in Soho, in 1995 above founder Nick Jones' restaurant Cafe Boheme. It now also runs Soho Farmhouse in the Cotswolds.
Lifestyle & Culture Editor
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