The pretty blonde spy who duped Rose McGowan into meeting privately with her while working undercover for Harvey Weinstein is a 30-something-year-old Israeli military veteran named Stella Penn, the DailyMail.com can exclusively reveal.
The operative at Israeli intelligence firm Black Cube – who bluffed her way into meetings with Rose McGowan and journalists while using the aliases ‘Diana Filip’ and ‘Anna’ – is a former member of the Israel Defense Forces and lives in Jaffa, Israel.
Penn, who was recently married, also goes by the name Stella Penn Pechanac, multiple sources told DailyMail.com.
The blonde spy duped McGowan into meeting with her and even managed to obtain a copy of the actress’s unpublished memoir this year, after telling the actress she was a women’s rights advocate from London.
Penn claimed she worked for a London-based investment company called Rueben Capital Partners.
In reality, Penn worked for the Israel-based intelligence firm Black Cube, which had been hired by Harvey Weinstein to investigate numerous women who had accused him of sexual harassment and other perceived enemies.
The pretty blonde spy who duped Rose McGowan into meeting privately with her while working undercover for Harvey Weinstein is a 30-something-year-old Israeli military veteran named Stella Penn, the DailyMail.com can exclusively reveal
Harvey Weinstein agreed to pay up to $1.3m to Black Cube, an Israeli intelligence firm
The company was tasked with collecting information on numerous women, including McGowan. The firm also worked to obtain a copy of McGowan’s unpublished memoir, to determine if the actress was going to go public with her sexual assault accusations against Weinstein.
McGowan first met with ‘Diana’ after the two were introduced by a literary agent last May, the New Yorker first reported this week.
The Black Cube operative claimed to be working on women’s rights advocacy and reportedly asked McGowan to speak at an upcoming event she was organizing. Penn and McGowan met in person on several occasions in New York and California, and even spent time on the Venice boardwalk, according to the New Yorker.
Penn pressed McGowan for information about her allegations against Weinstein, and eventually managed to obtain a copy of the actress’s unpublished book.
The operative even kept up the ruse after the New Yorker published explosive allegations against Weinstein last month, revealing that he had been accused of sexual harassment and rape by numerous actresses and female employees over the years.
‘Diana’ wrote an email to McGowan after the story was published, praising the actress for her courage.
‘Hi Love,’ she wrote. ‘How are you feeling? . . . Just wanted to tell you how brave I think you are.’
McGowan was reportedly shocked when she was later told by the New Yorker that ‘Diana’ was actually an undercover investigator working for Black Cube.
Weinstein hired Israeli firm Black Cube on October 24, 2016, to carry out the covert operation, known internally as ‘Operation Parachute’ by operatives that included ex-Mossad agents
‘Oh my God,’ she told the New Yorker. ‘Reuben Capital. Diana Filip. No fucking way.’
Penn, using the alias ‘Anna,’ also met with New York reporter Ben Wallace earlier this year while he was working on a story about Weinstein.
The Black Cube operative implied to Wallace that she wanted to discuss allegations against Weinstein. But the reporter said she seemed to be pressing him for information on his upcoming article while revealing very few details about herself.
According to a biography of her posted online, Penn is involved in an educational advocacy group in Israel called Recalculating the Educational Route.
The biography says she moved to Israel in 1994 from Yugoslavia. She served as a Lieutenant in the Israeli Air Force and has worked on Jewish advocacy campaigns in the U.S. and Australia.
She speaks four languages – English, Hebrew, Serbo-Croatian, and conversational Spanish.
Penn is also an actress. She graduated from the theater arts program at Nissan Nativ Acting Studio in 2010, according to her biography.
Weinstein agreed to pay Black Cube up to $1.3 million for its investigative work, according to his October 24, 2016 contract with the firm exclusively obtained by DailyMail.com.
The covert operation, known internally as ‘Operation Parachute,’ targeted at least 10 women, fashion designer Kenneth Cole, and a prominent AIDS charity, the DailyMail.com has learned.
Weinstein’s work with Black Cube was first reported by the New Yorker on Monday, which published a July contract showing that the firm deployed undercover agents to obtain information from Weinstein’s sexual assault accusers and journalists.
The initial October contract between Weinstein and Black Cube last fall shows that Weinstein was fixated on the idea that he was the victim of a ‘negative campaign’ orchestrated by his enemies – and he was willing to go to great lengths to stop it.
Harvey Weinstein’s original contract with Israeli intelligence firm Black Cube, in October 2016 reveals that Weinstein agreed to pay the company as much as $1.3 million to spy on his perceived enemies – including close friend and amfAR chairman Kenneth Cole (pictured)
Actress Rose McGowan (left), who has made allegations of rape against Weinstein, and Thomas Ajamie (right), a financial fraud attorney who had been hired by amfAR to examine a suspicious financial transaction involving Weinstein, both were investigated by Black Cube
Harvey Weinstein’s original contract with an Israeli intelligence firm, published exclusively here, reveals that the disgraced movie executive agreed to pay the company as much as $1.3 million to spy on his perceived enemies – including numerous actresses, fashion designer Kenneth Cole and a prominent AIDS charity.
Black Cube was first hired to ‘identify the entities behind the negative campaign against [Weinstein]’ and ‘support [Weinstein’s] efforts to put a stop to it,’ according to the initial contract.
The investigation targeted actresses who accused Weinstein of sexual assault, but it also extended to Weinstein’s supposed friends and allies.
A source familiar with the operation said Black Cube was asked to investigate Weinstein’s long-time friend Kenneth Cole and the Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR), a charity where Weinstein was a donor. Cole is amfAR’s chairman.
Black Cube was also asked to look into Thomas Ajamie, a financial fraud attorney who had been hired by amfAR to examine a suspicious financial transaction involving Weinstein.
Another target was Commentary magazine editor John Podhoretz, who had posted a comment on Twitter in 2015 about Weinstein’s rumored assault victims.
Actresses Sophie Dix and Katherine Kendall were also subjects of interest, according to the source.
Ajamie told DailyMail.com that he was not surprised he was on Black Cube’s list and believed he was targeted because he had been hired by the amfAR board to investigate an unusual financial deal Weinstein had with the charity in 2015.
The transaction, which is currently under investigation by the Department of Justice, involved transferring profits from an amfAR auction to a theater project that Weinstein had invested in.
The elaborate planning that went into the operation involved the crafting of a fake website for Reuben Partners, with a section devoted to ‘Women In Focus’ (above)
The fake firm of Reuben Partners also had an office building listed on its website (seen above in Google street view)
Ajamie’s investigation found that Weinstein’s financial deal ‘exposed amfAR to material risks to its financial integrity and reputation.’ In the process, Ajamie also discovered some of the sexual assault allegations against Weinstein.
‘I knew that Weinstein and his lawyers had hired private investigators, and his lawyers were investigating me and trying to harass me,’ said Ajamie.
He said he recalled run-ins with individuals he believed may have been working for private investigators. Over the past year, he said several strangers showed up at his law office claiming they had scheduled meetings with him or stopped by his apartment unannounced.
A spokesperson for amfAR declined to comment on Weinstein’s spy operation.
‘As has been widely reported, the Department of Justice is conducting an ongoing criminal investigation into certain transactions carried out by Mr. Weinstein,’ said the spokesperson.
‘In our continued effort to cooperate with this investigation we are unable to comment at this time. amfAR remains committed to pursuing its charitable mission of finding a cure for the over 30 million people living with HIV and AIDS.’
The initial October contract reveals that Weinstein promised to pay Black Cube $200,000 for two months of work – plus up to $600,000 in bonuses if the firm went above and beyond the scope of its assignment.
Another target was Commentary magazine editor John Podhoretz (pictured) who had posted a comment on Twitter in 2015 about Weinstein’s rumored assault victims
Actresses Katherine Kendall (left) and Sophie Dix (right) were also subjects of interest to the intelligence firm, a source told DailyMail.com
The cost included ‘databases and software licenses, flights, travel, computers and special accessories, and out of pocket expenses.’
Black Cube would also be paid an additional $100,000 if Weinstein used the information it collected in lawsuits, pitched it to the media or gave it to law enforcement.
The contract also included an additional $300,000 payment to Black Cube if the firm uncovered previously unknown individuals who were involved in the ‘negative campaign’ against Weinstein. It also stipulated a $200,000 ‘success fee.’
‘[I]n the event Black Cube succeeds in achieving the objective, including putting a stop to the negative campaign, Black Cube will be paid an additional success fee of 200,000 USD,’ said the contract.
The document described Black Cube as ‘a select group of veterans of elite units in the Israeli intelligence community, combined with financial and legal experts’ based in London, Tel-Aviv and Paris.
The October contract was signed by Amy Habie, the chief financial officer at Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP, the law firm Weinstein used to retain Black Cube. It was also signed by Black Cube’s director Avi Yanus.
Elizabeth Avellan with ex-Robert Rodriguez, who left her to begin a relationship with McGowan, says a reporter contacted her and pressed her for dirt on McGowan
Weinstein had the agencies compile psychological profiles on dozens of targets such as Rosanna Arquette (left) while Pamela Lubell (right) was allegedly tricked into revealing a list of her old colleagues, then forced her to call them to see who had spoken to the press
In a subsequent contract in July, published on Monday by the New Yorker, Weinstein agreed to pay the firm another $200,000 for four months of investigative work, and up to $350,000 in potential bonuses.
Despite the relative success of the operation, sources said Weinstein and Black Cube ended up in a dispute over payments, which was the reason for the second contract in July.
During ‘Operation Parachute,’ Black Cube operatives managed to obtain several meetings with targeted journalists and actresses.
One undercover female operative working for Black Cube met with actress Rose McGowan and her agent in May 2017 in Los Angeles, according to the New Yorker.
DailyMail.com learned the operative is a blonde woman in her 30s from Jaffa, Israel, who previously worked for the Israel Defense Forces.
During the meetings, they discussed an unpublished memoir McGowan had written called Brave, which referenced Weinstein. The operative was able to obtain a full copy of the book.
The Black Cube investigation – known as ‘Operation Parachute’ – was led carried out by the firm’s London office, according to a source familiar with the effort.
Black Cube founders Avi Yanos and Dan Zorella – a former member of the Israeli Intelligence Corps – were also involved in the project.
Insiders said the spy firm’s London office went into panic mode on Monday and initially tried to destroy documents related to the Weinstein deal before their law firm Peters & Peters advised against it.
