An investigation for “extortion attempts in an organized gang” on Paul Pogba has been open since the beginning of August in France, franceinfo learned this Sunday from sources familiar with the matter. After the “revelations” promised on Saturday by Mathias Pogba on social networks, it turns out that the 2018 world champion claims to be the victim of threats and attempted extortion from his older brother and childhood friends. . Franceinfo reveals to you what he said to the police.
During various hearings, Paul Pogba was able to confide to investigators from the Central Office for the Fight against Organized Crime that he had notably been trapped by childhood friends and two hooded men armed with assault rifles. According to him, the gang demanded 13 million euros from him and has intimidated him several times since, to the Juventus training center in Turin, where he told the police that he recognized his brother Mathias Pogba among the suspects.
On March 25 and 29, when the French football team hosted Côte d’Ivoire and South Africa in a friendly match, Paul Pogba took the opportunity to visit his family in Lagny-sur-Marne. (Seine et Marne). Friends then dragged him to an apartment in Paris, where they blamed him for not helping them financially since becoming a professional player. Among them, two armed men therefore claimed 13 million euros for “service rendered”, ensuring that they had protected him discreetly for 13 years.
The 2018 world champion assured investigators that he had seen his blackmailers several times, notably in April in Manchester, then in July at the Juventus training center in Turin, with which he had just signed up. It was in Turin that he recognized his brother Mathias, with whom he has conflicting relations, among the people he accuses of intimidating him. After this episode, Paul Pogba approached his club’s lawyers who decided to notify the police.
During his hearings, the Juve player explained to investigators from the Central Directorate of the Judicial Police that he had always been close to his childhood friends and that he had never hesitated to help them financially when they were in the need, until last January, when he excluded from his home a friend he was hosting in Manchester. He had then just realized that the latter had used his credit card to steal 200,000 euros from him.
This Sunday, Paul Pogba’s lawyers estimated, in a press release that the sports management of Radio France was able to consult, that “Mathias Pogba’s recent statements on social networks are unfortunately not a surprise”. On Saturday, Paul Pogba’s big brother effectively promised “explosive revelations” about the Juve player, as well as his agent Rafaela Pimenta and his France teammate Kylian Mbappé.
The name of the Paris Saint-Germain striker seems to appear in this affair despite himself. To the investigators, Paul Pogba notably mentioned the fact that his blackmailers wanted to discredit him by broadcasting messages in which he would have asked a marabout from his family circle to cast a spell on Kylian Mbappé, which the player denies.