PARIS: The older brother of Paul Pogba was charged and detained for the alleged extortion of the French football star, a source familiar with the matter said on Saturday.
“We will challenge this decision” Mathias PogbaYassine Bouzrou’s lawyer told French broadcaster BFMTV, insisting his client had not committed any criminal offence.
A judicial source said four other people detained and questioned in the case, aged between 27 and 36, had also been charged and detained.
The five men have been detained since Tuesday and Wednesday.
Mathias Pogba, 32, has admitted to being behind a bizarre video posted online on August 27 promising “big revelations” about the Juventus player and member of the France team.
The other four are all close to the Pogba brothers.
Paul Pogba had filed a complaint on July 16 with the Turin prosecutor’s office, claiming that he was the target of a blackmail plot of 13 million euros.
According to sources close to the Pogba family contacted by AFP, large sums of money are being demanded from Paul Pogba if he wants to avoid the dissemination of allegedly compromising videos.
Paul Pogba has told investigators his blackmailers wanted to discredit him by claiming he asked a marabout (holy man) to put a spell on Paris Saint-Germain and French star Kylian Mbappe, which Pogba denies.
French prosecutors opened an investigation on September 2. It is carried out jointly by the anti-gang and central units of the French police.
Several people, including Pogba’s mother, have already been heard by the police, a judicial source told AFP.
On the pitch, Pogba’s hopes of playing for France at the World Cup in Qatar later this year hang in the balance after a knee injury. He underwent what was described as “successful” surgery earlier this month.
“We will challenge this decision” Mathias PogbaYassine Bouzrou’s lawyer told French broadcaster BFMTV, insisting his client had not committed any criminal offence.
A judicial source said four other people detained and questioned in the case, aged between 27 and 36, had also been charged and detained.
The five men have been detained since Tuesday and Wednesday.
Mathias Pogba, 32, has admitted to being behind a bizarre video posted online on August 27 promising “big revelations” about the Juventus player and member of the France team.
The other four are all close to the Pogba brothers.
Paul Pogba had filed a complaint on July 16 with the Turin prosecutor’s office, claiming that he was the target of a blackmail plot of 13 million euros.
According to sources close to the Pogba family contacted by AFP, large sums of money are being demanded from Paul Pogba if he wants to avoid the dissemination of allegedly compromising videos.
Paul Pogba has told investigators his blackmailers wanted to discredit him by claiming he asked a marabout (holy man) to put a spell on Paris Saint-Germain and French star Kylian Mbappe, which Pogba denies.
French prosecutors opened an investigation on September 2. It is carried out jointly by the anti-gang and central units of the French police.
Several people, including Pogba’s mother, have already been heard by the police, a judicial source told AFP.
On the pitch, Pogba’s hopes of playing for France at the World Cup in Qatar later this year hang in the balance after a knee injury. He underwent what was described as “successful” surgery earlier this month.