Los Angeles ( CNN ) -- The California man believed to be the maker of an anti-Islam film that ignited a firestorm in the Muslim world was cooperative when authorities escorted him to a voluntary interview , officials said Saturday . `` It was all choreographed , '' said Steve Whitmore of the Los Angeles County Sheriff 's Department . `` He was ready and willing and very cooperative . '' The overnight meeting with a probation officer came a day after federal officials said they were reviewing the probation of Nakoula Basseley Nakoula , who was convicted of bank fraud in 2010 and placed on supervised probation for five years . Clinton demands Arab Spring nations protect embassies . Federal officials consider Nakoula to be the filmmaker behind the anti-Islam `` Innocence of Muslims . '' Whitmore told CNN that Nakoula left the local sheriff 's station after the federal officials were done interviewing him . `` He is gone and he is free , '' he said of Nakoula , who was bundled up in a coat , hat and white scarf as he was escorted from his house . Nakoula decided to cover himself , Whitmore told CNN affiliate KCAL/KCBS . Whitmore earlier dismissed reports that Nakoula had been arrested , saying he was never in handcuffs or in custody . Karen Redmond , a spokeswoman for the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts , said Friday that Nakoula 's federal probation was under review . Redmond did n't provide details of why or when the probation review was initiated , or how long the process would take . While on probation , Nakoula ca n't access computers or any device that can access the Internet without approval from his probation officer . Nakoula served one year in federal prison at Lompoc , California , but officials could n't immediately determine whether Nakoula paid any of the court-ordered restitution of $ 794,700 , according to probation department officials and court records . Since notice of the film spread through YouTube , Nakoula has been out of public view and ensconced with his family in their home in Cerritos , California , where journalists have been gathered seeking information about his elusive background . Cerritos is about a 20-mile drive southeast of downtown Los Angeles . The movie , backed by hardcore anti-Islam groups in the United States , is a low-budget project that was ignored in the United States when trailers were posted on YouTube in July . But after Egyptian television aired certain segments , violent protests erupted in Egypt , Yemen , Tunisia , Morocco , Sudan , Iran , Iraq , Israel and the Palestinian territories . Violent mobs attacked the U.S. Consulate in the Libyan city of Benghazi , leaving the ambassador and three other American men dead . Navy SEALs among dead . The amateurish film portrays the Prophet Mohammed as a womanizer , buffoon , ruthless killer and child molester . Islam categorically forbids any depictions of Mohammed , and blasphemy is an incendiary taboo in the Muslim world . The FBI contacted the filmmaker this week because of the potential for threats but he is not under investigation , a federal law enforcement official told CNN Thursday . One of the few public reports about Nakoula emerged this week when he called the Los Angeles County Sheriff 's Department Wednesday night to report a disturbance , said Whitmore . Nakoula wanted local police to protect him . When news of his movie first broke , the filmmaker identified himself as Sam Bacile and told the Wall Street Journal that he was a 52-year-old Israeli-American real estate developer from California . He said Jewish donors had financed his film . But Israel 's Foreign Ministry said there was no record of a Sam Bacile with Israeli citizenship . A production staff member who worked on the film in its initial stages told CNN that an entirely different name was filed on the paperwork for the Screen Actors Guild : Abenob Nakoula Bassely . A public records search showed an Abanob B. Nakoula residing at the same address as Nakoula Basseley Nakoula . He believed the filmmaker was a Coptic Christian and when the two spoke on the phone during production , the filmmaker said he was in Alexandria , Egypt , raising money for the film . Staff and crew of film that ridiculed Muslims say they were 'grossly misled ' In Egypt , tension has emerged in recent decades between Muslims and the minority Copts . Another staffer who worked on the film said he knew the producer as Sam Bassil . That 's how he signed a personal check to pay staff . When CNN inquired about Sam Bassil , the U.S. Attorney 's Office sent a copy of a 2009 indictment . Those court documents showed the bank fraud conviction for Nakoula Basseley Nakoula . In his interview with the Wall Street Journal , the filmmaker characterized his movie as `` a political effort to call attention to the hypocrisies of Islam . '' `` Islam is a cancer , '' he said . `` The movie is a political movie . It 's not a religious movie . '' Have you witnessed attacks at U.S. embassies ? Share your images , videos and stories . CNN 's Amanda Watts , Michael Martinez and Miguel Marquez contributed to this report .
Filmmaker was `` very cooperative , '' authorities say . Nakoula Basseley Nakoula leaves sheriff 's office after interview with probation officer . Nakoula served a year in federal prison for bank fraud . A review of his federal probation is ongoing .