Hamilton police say they've busted an employee at Nations Fresh Foods over an alleged extortion scheme aimed at shoppers at the grocery store in Jackson Square mall downtown.

Police started hearing in October that someone working in "loss prevention" at Nations would arrest people and accuse them of offences like shoplifting.

"After being arrested, the individual(s) were then told that they were required to pay a fee in order to avoid having the matter being reported to police," said Const. Asuf Khokhar.

The police investigation led to arresting a 30-year-old man last week. He's been charged with three counts of extortion and two counts of fraud under $5,000. The man is expected to appear in court on March 27.

Police believe there might be more people who haven't reported similar incidents, and ask anyone with information to contact detectives at 905-546-3816 or via Crime Stoppers.