Pogba has been at the centre of an alleged blackmail plot
Paul Pogba reportedly paid £85,000 to extortionists who demanded £11m from the Frenchman after taking him to an apartment in Paris in March, where he was threatened with assault rifles.
The Juventus midfielder revealed that the men had wanted money for “protection services” which date back as long as 13 years ago, with the two armed men claiming they had “protected him discreetly”.
French outlet RMC said that Pogba had paid the men £85,000 in order to “save time” and “satisfy the extortionists” but they eventually returned to demand the £11m once again.
Pogba has been at the centre of an alleged blackmail plot, with details first emerging after his brother Mathias posted a video to social media, promising to reveal ‘explosive’ revelations about his sibling.
Salut à tous, je viens de rejoindre Twitter car j'ai soudainement eu envie de m'exprimer et prochainement je crois que je vais bien me lâcher ! Alors suivez moi et tenez-vous prêt !
👇🏿 La vidéo complète est sur insta
@mathiaspogbaofficial pic.twitter.com/femvMRN7PQ— Mathias Pogba (@LeMathiasPogba) August 27, 2022
Mathias Pogba denies the extortion claims
A statement signed by his lawyers, mother Yeo Moriba and current agent Rafaela Pimenta said the videos were “no surprise” and were in addition to other “threats and extortion attempts.”
One of the threats that the World Cup winner told investigators was to claim that he had asked a witch doctor to cast a spell on Paris Saint-Germain forward, and international teammate, Kylian Mbappé. The midfielder denies those claims.
Sources in Paris confirmed on Sunday that an investigation had been opened in which they were looking into an “attempted extortion in an organised gang”, in which Pogba’s older brother and childhood friends are all named as suspects.
Mathias – a former Wrexham and Crawley Town player – denied those claims in a furious Twitter outburst on Sunday evening, saying: “Paul, you really wanted to shut me up completely to lie and send me to prison, I suspected it now it’s true, my version of the facts happens and unlike you.”
Hahahaha, ce que j'attendais est arrivé : mon petit frère qui commence enfin a montré son vrai visage. Puisque c'est lui qui a commencé a parlé pour mentir à la police et qui fait sortir l'info, on pourra rien me reprocher.👇🏿https://t.co/rwnmaLtiHs
— Mathias Pogba (@LeMathiasPogba) August 28, 2022
Get France Football News added on Sunday that during various interviews with the authorities, the Juventus midfielder said he had been trapped by childhood friends and two hooded men armed with assault rifles during an incident in Paris.
Pogba added that he was dragged to a house by the childhood friends, where he was blamed for not helping them financially since becoming a professional player.
The midfielder told investigators that he had never hesitated to help his friends until January last year, when he had to ask a friend to leave his house in Manchester after realising the individual had used his credit card to steal €200,000 from him.
The most recent of the intimidation attempts is said to have taken place in the city of Turin, where Pogba is based after rejoining Juventus this summer.
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