Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Const. Jeffrey Buchanan Charged with Extorting Money

The Halifax police constable charged Sunday with extorting money from a man last week is accused of receiving $5,100, according to court documents obtained by CBC News.

The prosecution documents claim that Const. Jeffrey Buchanan, 29, demanded the money from Shawn Banfield, who is scheduled to be in provincial court Wednesday to face other charges.

The allegation details are in documents that are publicly available at the courthouse. They have yet to be proven.

The extortion is alleged to have happened in Halifax on Thursday, Dec. 10.

Buchanan was arrested Saturday at 2:30 a.m. while on duty and charged early Sunday. He is not in custody but has been suspended with pay.

He is scheduled to be in court on Jan. 26 to face charges of extortion and breach of trust.

Banfield is due in court Wednesday to face charges of assault and resisting and obstructing a police officer, dating to Dec. 9 and 10.

On Sunday, Halifax deputy police chief Chris McNeil said a "complex" investigation was conducted by the integrated Halifax Regional Police and RCMP team.

"Some of the witnesses were not necessarily forthcoming and co-operative," he said. "This is not a complainant who came forward to say 'I was extorted.'

"This is circumstances where police uncovered criminal activity and had to go out and seek out these people and not all of them were co-operative."

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