A collection of Jay-Z master recordings with the combined value of between $15 and $20 million is at the center of an alleged theft and extortion plot.
Law enforcement obtained possession of the tapes in question and sources say that a producer named Chauncey Mahan was questioned on Friday in connection with the alleged plot.
Mahan produced for Jay-Z between 1998 and 2002. In 2002, the masters went missing and Jay-Z and his associates assumed that the tapes were lost.
Last Friday, Mahan was found to have a number of the masters in his storage facility in Northridge, CA.
Law enforcement sources said that Mahan allegedly contacted Live Nation, who owns Roc Nation along with Jay-Z. Mahan reportedly intended either let the tapes go up for auction unless Live Nation paid him $100K.
He later settled for $75K.
On Friday when Mahan went to the storage facility to make the trade, the LAPD had been contacted and Mahan was detained, though not arrested. The Beverly Hills PD is investigating the allegations of extortion and Jay Z‘s legal team filed a grand larceny complaint on Friday with the NYPD. The case is now in progress.