A producer who worked with the 44 year-old rapper in 2002 allegedly tried to sell old master recordings to Live Nation for $ 75K.
A producer who has collaborated with Jay-Z in the past is at the center of an extortion plot over master recordings worth tens of millions of dollars.
TMZ reports, a producer called Chauncey Mahan was questioned on Friday (April 18th) by police about his connection with an alleged theft and extortion plot on master recordings that are worth between $ 15-20 million.
The authorities now have the tapes in their possession.
The master recordings were made between 1998 and 2002, but went missing on that year and Jay-Z’s team assumed they were just lost.
Their existence surfaced when Mahan, who reportedly had some recordings in a California storage facility, rang Live Nation and threatened to auction them off unless he was paid a $ 100,000 storage fee.
Although it is unknown how the recordings ended up in Mahan’s possession, when he attempted to sell them, he reportedly agreed to take $ 75,000 from Live Nation.
According to the gossip site, when Mahan took Jay-Z’s team to the storage facility to secure the deal on Friday, the LAPD were already standing by and detained him as he agreed to be questioned back at the station.
He then handed the tapes over to the authorities until an LA judge can determine who they actually belong to.
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Sources have told TMZ that Beverly Hills PD are investigating the extortion allegations against Mahan as Live Nation is based in their jurisdiction.
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The 44 year-old rapper’s team also filed a grand larceny complaint on Friday with the NYPD, who are also investigating the allegations.
Jay-Z’s master recordings are allegedly worth $ 15-20 million
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