Former reporters in custody on alleged extortion plot

Two former news reporters have been arrested by the Police in an alleged extortion plot that reportedly targeted a popular East Coast Demerara car dealer.

The suspects, Alex Wayne and Gary Eleazer, are accused of demanding $90 million from the car dealer to remove an article from Facebook that allegedly accused the car dealer of cheating the Guyana Revenue Authority out of taxes.

In a statement that was first released by Attorney General Anil Nandlall then supported by the Police, the businessman alleged that he was contacted by Wayne and Eleazer who claimed that they were connected to the Facebook page that published the offending article and wanted $90 million to remove the article.

The businessman claimed that the two were also associated to another businessman who has been targeting him over previous business dealings.

According to the statement, the two suspects later demanded $1 million each to remove the article from the Facebook page which carries the name “Guyana News Network”.

A sting operation was set up between the car dealer and the Police and after a quantity of marked cash was reportedly handed over to the two former reporters, they were arrested just after meeting the businessman with the money in their possession.

The Police in a statement today said Eleazer and Wayne have since provided statements tying another businessman to the alleged extortion plot and also claiming that the “GNN” news page has a New York based political activist as its administrator.

The “GNN” has since distanced itself from both Wayne and Eleazer, indicating that the two have never been administrators of the social media page.

The Guyana Police Force has stated that the investigations are ongoing.