Mel B's estranged husband approahes police over extortion attempt

Police in Los Angeles are investigating allegations suggesting an ex-girlfriend of Mel B's estranged husband Stephen Belafonte is attempting to extort him for $1 million (£772,000).

Belafonte has handed over audio footage purportedly featuring Nicole Contrereas, the mother of his 12-year-old daughter Giselle, threatening to destroy him unless he met her cash demands.

According to TMZ.com, the recording took place on 20 March (17) - the same day Mel B filed for divorce to end their 10-year marriage - when Contrereas allegedly told the film producer, "I'm gonna take you down."

The woman featured on the tape initially tells Belafonte she wants $500,000 (£386,000), before doubling the fee to buy her silence, after claiming she had been contacted by Mel B's representatives to tell her story, which she insists is "so ugly".

The female, who appears to be intoxicated, rambles on about Giselle, and then declares she will "bury" Belafonte, who is already fighting accusations of domestic abuse from Spice Girls star Mel.

Authorities are currently looking into the extortion tape, but Contrereas is adamant she is not the woman heard on the recording - and has slammed Belafonte for trying to damage her reputation after sympathising with Mel B.

"This audio is clearly not me," she tells TMZ.com. "Stephen is falsifying stories because I have told the press the truth."

Contrereas, who dated Belafonte for six years, recently threw her support behind the pop star, saying, "I believe (Mel has) probably been through hell. It's sad."

Ironically, Belafonte himself has been accused of trying to blackmail the Wannabe hitmaker, real name Melanie Brown, by threatening to release sex tapes of the pair engaging in threesomes with the family's former nanny Lorraine Gilles if she ever tried to leave him.

He has denied all accusations filed by Brown, but was slapped with a restraining order in March (17), banning him from approaching or contacting the star and her kids amid fears for their safety.

Belafonte has since been granted supervised visitation with five-year-old daughter Madison, his only biological child with Brown, who is also mother to 18-year-old Phoenix Chi with dancer Jimmy Gulzar, and 10-year-old Angel with comedian Eddie Murphy.