Report: Female spy who duped actress on Weinstein's behalf unmasked as IDF veteran
The spy allegedly tricked actress Rose McGawan into revealing personal information.
By JOY BERNARDUpdated: NOVEMBER 9, 2017 19:40A composite photo of Harvey Weinstein and Stella Penn Pechanac(photo credit: REUTERS/REDRIDC)
An IDF veteran living in Israel's coastline city of Jaffa is the spy who acted on producer and Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein's behalf to trick actress Rose McGawan (one among a slew of complainants) into revealing personal information with the purpose of eventually derailing some of the sexual harassment and rape complaints brought forth against Weinstein.The spy is Bosnia-born Stella Penn, who immigrated to Israel in 1994 and served as a lieutenant in the Israel Air Force, Britain's Daily Mail reported Thursday.According to the Daily Mail, Stella Penn Pechanac, who used aliases such as 'Diana Filip' and 'Anna,' worked for Israeli intelligence firm Black Cube which Weinstein used to gather sensitive information about the multiple women who accused him of assaulting them.The Daily Mail reported that the Israeli spy convinced Rose McGowan (who alleged that Weinstein raped her) to meet with her after she posed as a women's rights activist hailing from London. She got her hands on an early copy of McGowan's unpublished memoir and the pair reportedly met several times before the New Yorker came out with the initial expose on the numerous complaints against Weinstein. They even stayed in touch after McGowan had already come forth with her confession about her experience with Weinstein.Penn, an actress who speaks four languages (English, Hebrew, Serbo-Croatian and Spanish) also managed to dupe New Yorker correspondent Ben Wallace, convincing him to meet with her and reveal information about the contents of his article concerning Weinstein before it was published.The Israeli spy reportedly worked for the Black Cube firm in the capacity of "Operation Parachute," a mission which targeted ten women who claimed they suffered different forms of sexual harassment or assault at the hands of the famous Hollywood producer.The Daily Mail alleged that Penn, who also claimed that she had worked for a London-based investment company called Rueben Capital Partners, created a close connection with McGowan and even reached out to her via email to comfort McGowan after the latter revealed that she was raped by Weinstein.The affair revolving around Weinstein continues to unravel to this day as more and more high-profile actresses and women in the film industry blame him as well as other media executives of taking advantage of their position to inappropriately engage with them.
