Footballer Paul Pogba’s brother, Mathias Pogba, was taken into custody along with four other men on Wednesday (September 14) in an alleged extortion case. The four men are relatives of Paul Pogba, one of whom was preparing to leave the country, franceinfo learned from sources familiar with the matter.
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According to information from franceinfo, in addition to the footballer’s brother, the men in police custody are childhood friends of Paul Pogba. Some even worked for him. They were all arrested in the Paris region.
Three of them are around the same age as the France international who is 29. The fourth is in his forties and was preparing to flee abroad. He has a long criminal record and served several years in prison for attempted homicide. It was he who rushed the police custody when the investigators understood that he was preparing to leave France, when he is very unfavorably known to the police. The others are known to have already committed petty crimes.
One of the men in police custody is suspected of having asked Paul Pogba to follow him to the apartment where the footballer claims to have been sequestered, franceinfo has learned. He is a key player in the case, according to the police. He is suspected of having demanded a deposit of three million euros out of the 13 million required, but also of having brought in two hooded men armed with assault rifles. This same person is also suspected of having gone with others to the Juventus training center in Turin to put pressure on Paul Pogba.
Another man taken into custody is suspected of being Paul Pogba’s childhood friend while he was playing at Manchester United. The footballer had then excluded him from his home when he realized that he had used his bank card to steal 200,000 euros from him.
The four childhood friends and Mathias Pogba deny the charges against them. Early Wednesday afternoon, Paul Pogba’s brother presented himself to the police at the Central Office for the Fight against Organized Crime in Nanterre. The hearing of the man who tried to flee abroad began on Tuesday, learned franceinfo. The other auditions began on Wednesday. For “extortion and kidnapping in an organized gang”, police custody can last up to four days.
An investigation for “extortion attempts in an organized gang” on Paul Pogba has been open since the beginning of August in France. During various hearings, the 2018 world champion said he was the victim of threats and attempted extortion.