Pogba's brother faces charges of blackmailing those closest to him
The older brother of France midfielder Paul Pogba and four other people are accused of blackmailing the Italian Juventus player, judicial sources said Saturday.
The five people will appear before an investigative judge later on Saturday, the sources added.
Matthias Pogba, 32, had admitted that he was behind a video posted on social media in four languages (French, Italian, English and Spanish), on August 27, in which he vowed to reveal "big things" about the world champion.
The other four are all close to the Pogba family and range in age from 27 to 36.
The five people have been detained since Tuesday and Wednesday.
Paul Pogba, 29, filed a complaint with the public prosecutor in Turin on July 16, saying he was the target of an extortion plot worth 13 million euros.
According to sources close to the player's family contacted by AFP, Paul Pogba has been asked for large sums of money if he wanted to avoid publishing videos allegedly harmful to him.
The former Manchester United player told investigators that blackmailers wanted to discredit him, by claiming that he had asked someone to cast a spell on his teammate and Paris Saint-Germain star striker Kylian Mbappe, which he denies.
The French Public Prosecution Office launched its investigation on 2 September.
It is jointly handled by the Police Anti-Gangster Unit and the Central Crime Unit.
Several people were heard by the police, including the player's mother.
Lawyers for the player, his mother Yeo Moreba, and his attorney, Rafaela Pimenta, who succeeded the late Mino Raiola, said in a statement that "Mattias Pogba's recent statements on social media are unfortunately not surprising. They are added to the threats and extortion attempts by an organized gang against Paul Pogba."
On the other hand, Matthias, a footballer also in the second and third tiers and who has dreamed of the Guinea national team five times, asserted in his recordings that "the whole world" just as his club Juventus and "sponsors" deserve to know certain things in order to make a decision based on facts to know what If Paul really deserves recognition, respect, his place in the France national team, the honor of playing in the World Cup, being a key player at Juventus, and if he is someone to be trusted.
” France Info radio reported that Paul told investigators he had been threatened by “childhood friends and two masked men armed with assault rifles.” And they are asking him for 13 million euros for “services provided” and accusing him of not helping them financially since he became a professional player.
On the pitch, Pogba hopes to book a place with the world champion while defending his title in the Qatar World Cup 2022, but he is recovering from surgery.” Successful"On his knee he underwent her at the beginning of the month.
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