‘The Voice’ Creator Blackmailed by 70-Year-Old Man, Police Say

An arrest has been made in a longtime blackmail scheme against the billionaire media mogul behind 'The Voice,' police in the Netherlands revealed today (Dec. 5).

The show's creator, John de Mol, has been the target of the extortion scheme since October 2013, Bloomberg reports.

A 70-year-old man was arrested after admitting he sent letters threatening to harm the TV mogul and his family if he wasn't paid off, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Police charged the man with suspicion of blackmail after his DNA matched a sample taken from the letters.

The suspect, whose name was not released, is a resident of the town of Zeist. It is not known what, if any, relationship he has to de Mol or his production company, nor has the content of the letters been revealed.

De Mol, who also helped create 'Big Brother' and produced many other media properties, has appeared on Forbes' list of the World's Richest People. His sister, Linda de Mol, a popular TV presenter in the Netherlands, was among those named in the threats.