Police charge man who allegedly named prominent man in extortion case

Cairns man charged after allegedly naming prominent Queenslander in extortion case Mon 15 Jun 2026 at 5:14pm In short: A 35-year-old man has been charged with breaching a suppression order after allegedly posting on social media. The extortion case involves an unnamed high-profile man and his alleged affair. What's next? The charged man is due to appear in Cairns Magistrates Court tomorrow. A Cairns man accused of exposing the identity of a Queensland public figure at the centre of a mysterious extortion case has been charged by police with allegedly disobeying a suppression order. The 35-year-old spent most of his weekend locked up in the watch house after he was arrested on Friday night and ordered to shut down his social media accounts which allegedly included posts about the high-profile man, his job and his alleged affair. The case involves a defendant facing one charge of extortion with domestic violence who is accused of threatening his ex-partner over her alleged romantic relationship with the prominent married man. But very few details about the case can be made public due to a blanket non-publication order made by Acting Magistrate Gelma Meoli which media organisations are currently challenging in the Supreme Court. For legal reasons, the ABC has chosen not to name the local man who's been charged for allegedly sharing suppressed details online, including the public figure's identity. The local man has an extensive criminal history but is not personally involved in the extortion case and it was quite by chance that he happened to be in court more than two weeks ago when the matter was first raised publicly. On Friday night, about eight officers turned up at his home with a search warrant signed by Acting Magistrate Meoli. Police seized his computer, mobile phone and other devices. He was charged later that night and appeared in court early the following morning. He said despite being granted bail, he was not released from the watch house for almost another 12 hours. Part of his bail conditions included suspending all his social media accounts and removing all posts that might be capable of breaching the suppression order. In a statement, Queensland Police confirmed they had charged a 35-year-old man with one count of disobedience to a lawful order issued by a statutory authority. He is due to reappear before Cairns Magistrates Court on Tuesday morning. When contacted by the ABC today, he said he would contest the charge and oppose any application by prosecutors to close the court to media or the public. "It should be heard in open court," he said. "This is of public interest and for it to be squirrelled away goes against the nature of the open justice principle." Loading... [Image text:] CAIRNS COURTHOUSE