Wednesday, September 11, 2024 - French judges on Tuesday, September 10, ordered six men to stand trial in a kidnap and extortion case involving French footballer Paul Pogba, with the star’s brother Mathias being one of the accused.
The trial follows a two-year investigation
into the alleged extortion and kidnapping of the former Manchester United
midfielder in a high-profile case that emerged in 2022.
Five people close to the World Cup winner
are suspected of having “meticulously prepared” a meeting in the Paris suburbs
on March 19, 2022, which ended with Pogba being kidnapped and held by two
unidentified men who demanded he give them 13 million euros ($14 million),
according to Paris prosecutors.
Pogba’s brother Mathias — a former striker himself — was not present for that
meeting, but is suspected of having put pressure on his younger brother
afterwards “with the same determination to get (Paul Pogba) to hand over the
money”, according to prosecutors.
All have denied their guilt in the affair,
claiming they were “victims” of armed robbers and that they were assaulted
after Paul Pogba refused to pay.
But prosecutors called for the three
childhood friends and two former acquaintances from the town where Pogba grew
up in eastern Paris who were present on the night to be tried for extortion,
illegal restraint and criminal conspiracy.
Pogba filed a complaint with Italian prosecutors saying he was the target of a
multi-million-euro blackmail plot.
The 31-year-old told investigators that his
blackmailers threatened to discredit him by claiming he asked a “marabout”, or
witch doctor, to cast a spell on fellow France star Kylian Mbappe, which Pogba
denies.
French prosecutors launched an investigation in September 2022 which was
handled jointly by the French police’s anti-gang and central crime units.
During the investigation, Paul Pogba stated that he had “voluntarily”
helped members of the group, but then refused to hand seven million euros over
to three of them in September 2021. He subsequently kept his distance from the
group, he said.
In late September 2022, his brother Mathias posted a series of videos on social
media incriminating Pogba and accusing him of having “abandoned” his family.
The videos came a month after Mathias Pogba had put another video online
in French, Italian, English and Spanish promising “great revelations” about his
brother.
During the investigation, Mathias said he
had been afraid for his safety and that of his family, saying he had been
manipulated by the other suspects, and that he hoped he would soon be
reconciled with his younger brother.
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