John Travolta 'extortion plot' over photo of dying son - report

26 Jan, 2009 08:59 PM5 mins to read

Grieving John Travolta is at the centre of an alleged extortion plot, reports say. Photo / AP

UPDATED:

Grieving star

John Travolta

is at the centre of an alleged extortion plot that is said to involve a photograph of his son

Jett

that was taken as he was dying.

Travolta was contacted by a pair of alleged extortionists who demanded "millions of dollars" or threatened to sell the photo to the highest bidder, reports the

Mail Online

The morbid shot is said to show the actor's 16-year-old son in the back of the ambulance which took him to hospital.

Jett died tragically after suffering a seizure at the family's Bahamas holiday home on January 2. According to reports, his father battled to keep him alive with heart massage before paramedics arrived to take over. Jett was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital.

Following the alleged extortion attempt, which was first reported by the Bahamas-based newspaper

The Tribune

, Travolta immediately contacted his lawyer and later flew to the Bahamas to meet with the alleged extortionists.

In a statement, Travolta's lawyers said: "Regrettably, in a time of such terrible grief, there are often a few individuals who attempt to make false claims in hopes of making millions of dollars. We will never let that happen."

Two men, one of whom is believed to be a politician from Grand Bahama, are reportedly being quizzed over the allegations.

A police source tells

Mail Online

, "The investigation is at an early stage. Mr Travolta is co-operating fully."

UPDATE:

TMZ.com

reports that Bahamian police are investigating an alleged extortion plot against John Travolta, but that it

does not involve any pictures of his dying son

. The website also confirms that the alleged extortion is related to the circumstances surrounding Jett's death.

Meanwhile, Obie Wilchcombe, a member of the Bahamian Parliament, denies that a politician is behind the plot, and says that only one person is involved in the incident: "The lawyer who brought the situation to my attention is a politician."

Wilchcombe reveals to

Usmagazine.com

that he was approached about the alleged plot early last week and passed along the information he received to Travolta's lawyers.

He adds that news of the reported plot emerged on the day that Travolta and Preston issued a letter to the people of the Bahamas, thanking them for their support.

Wilchcombe adds, "The irony was that the Travolta family just sent a letter of gratitude - it happened that afternoon."

Part of the couple's emotional letter reads: "The enormous amount of love, support and condolence we have received from this community has been most humbling. Comforting words, thoughts and prayers of Ocala's citizens have made an impossibly painful situation a little less painful."

Celebrity news website

accesshollywood.com

reports that according to Bahamian news channel ZNS, police are "trying to determine whether not a criminal offense was being committed by the alleged extortionists."

Stay tuned for updates...

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