newspaper revealed toThe French LomondJuventus player Paul Pogba agreed to pay money at gunpoint to two men who “kidnapped” him last March.
This latest information coincides with the temporary imprisonment of Matthias Pogba, the elder brother of the French football star, and four other people, on charges of blackmailing the Italian team player, according to what a source close to this case said, after they appeared before the investigating judge, Saturday.
Le Monde newspaper refers to what the player told investigators in August, detailing what happened on the night of March 19, while he was training with the French national team in Clairefontaine.
The newspaper said Pogba had just spent several hours with his childhood friend, Boubacar C., in La Renardiere, the neighborhood he grew up in in Roissy-en-Brét, an eastern suburb of Paris. As he was about to return to his hotel in the French capital, he was led by other friends from the neighborhood, Adama. S., Roshidan and Macchikor K., two brothers, moved to an apartment in another nearby city.
And “there, the footballer was forced to turn off his phone, which was taken from him, and then two heavily armed and masked men in flak jackets appeared.”
The newspaper said that “Roshidan ordered Paul Pogba to pay 13 million euros, including 3 million in cash, in exchange for the protection that the two men allegedly provided him for years.”
Two months after filing a complaint in Italy on 16 July, charges were brought against five suspects, including his brother Matthias.
Matthias has been charged with “extortion in an organized gang” and “participation in a criminal group to prepare for a crime”, while his lawyer has appealed the accusation.
Four other suspects, aged between 27 and 36, close to the player, most of whom are already known to the police, were charged with “extortion with a weapon within an organized gang”, and “arrest, kidnapping, imprisonment or detention within an organized gang, with the aim of preparing to commit a crime or facilitating its commission,” according to Le Monde.
Pogba told the investigators that he was afraid, and told the masked men that he would pay, before “one of them spoke to Roshedan and they left, and then Roshidan said I had to pay them otherwise we would all be in danger.”
According to the player, “Rushidan said that what happened was normal for any famous football player, but you have to pay because I sponsored you with the gunmen.”
According to the player, one of the suspects threatened to reveal the contents of a “USB” memory stick that shows that the star paid a “witch” to cast a spell on his opponents and his French teammate, Kylian Mbappe.
It appears that the player initially tried to pay the blackmailers, but his bank refused to release the money due to the suspicious nature of the request and the amount.
According to investigation documents seen by Le Monde newspaper, it appears that the player was robbed of 200,000 euros over a year and a half by his friend, Mamadou, who denies these allegations.
Pogba also made several transfers worth tens of thousands of euros to two suspects under investigation.
The player’s lawyer filed a complaint against Matthias Pogba, who later admitted, in custody, that he was behind the video published in late August on social media in which he threatened to reveal information about his brother.
All five suspects indicted claim that they were subjected to pressure, threats and reprisals from a “second circle” of blackmailers, according to the newspaper.