Sébas Diekstra said the man had approached the Smit family claiming to have a video of an apparent argument between Dutch model Ivana and an American couple, moments before she fell from a condominium in Kuala Lumpur.

“In the end, there was no footage at all,” Diekstra said in his book “Ivana: Strijden Voor Gerechtigheid” (Ivana: Fighting for Righteousness). He gave selected chapters of the book translated into English to FMT.

Diekstra said the so-called tipster, who remained anonymous, had also demanded for the payment to be made in Bitcoin. The man appeared to know a lot about the case, and also the injuries sustained by Ivana in her apparent fatal fall.

He said the family was close to paying the US$50,000 reward to the man, but did not do so on his advice.

Diekstra also questioned the coroner’s “misadventure” finding into Ivana’s death, saying that despite testimony showing that the case should be tried criminally, the coroner had decided otherwise.

He also made scathing remarks about the competence of several witnesses, including a police officer.

The High Court in Kuala Lumpur, in a review of the coroner’s findings, later ordered the attorney-general and police to investigate the case as murder, and set aside the coroner’s decision.

Ivana was found dead at the CapSquare Residence in downtown Kuala Lumpur on Dec 7, 2017, after falling from the 20th-floor of a condominium unit owned by American couple Alex Johnson and Luna Almaz.

She was 18 and had been permanently based in Penang since 2002.

Police had initially classified the case as sudden death. The family has since sued the police for breach of statutory duties and negligence, with the suit now under appeal after it was dismissed at the High Court due to technicalities.