The Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office confirmed to the CNN this Monday (29) that the extortion charge of the French soccer player of Juventus Paul Pogba against his brother, Mathias Pogba, is being investigated by the French police.
The player’s statement came after Mathias released a series of videos on Instagram in English, French, Spanish and Italian in which he claimed he would make “major revelations” about the conduct of his brother and Rafaela Pimenta, his agent.
Pogba, a former member of France’s 2018 World Cup winning team, made the extortion charge through his legal team in a statement obtained by CNN on Monday (29).
In a video posted on Saturday (27), Mathias said: “The French, Italian and English public… and even more, the French national team and the Juventus team, my brother’s teammates and their sponsors deserve to know certain things to take an informed decision and decide whether he deserves the public’s admiration, respect and love. If he deserves his place in the French national team, and the honor of playing in a World Cup… youth and, of course, the big brands?”
A spokesperson for the prosecution told CNN that an investigation was launched earlier this month. “I can confirm that an investigation was opened on August 3, 2022, in particular into the charge of extortion and attempted extortion in an organized gang,” the statement reads.
“The investigations were entrusted to the Central Office for Combating Organized Crime (OCLCO, for its acronym in French)”, continued the prosecution. OCLCO is the branch of the French judicial police responsible for investigations into organized crime.
French media say Pogba told authorities that he had been extorted around €13 million by a group in which one of the members was his brother Mathias. Pogba was reportedly approached by the group with rifles and accused by his brother of never having helped his family, among other accusations.
Paul Pogba’s statement, which was signed by his lawyers, his mother Yeo Moriba and Pimenta, reads: “Unfortunately, Mathias Pogba’s recent social media posts come as no surprise and follow other attempts over an extended period of trying to extort Paul. Pogba”.
“The facts were reported to the Italian and French police a month ago and there will be no further comment on the current investigations.” The Italian police confirmed to the CNN that it is not investigating the allegations.
Mathias responded to the investigation’s reports in a series of tweets that began with: “What I’ve been waiting for has arrived: my little brother is finally starting to show his true colors.”
THE CNN reached out to Mathias Pogba for further comment, but he did not respond.
Paul Pogba, 29, returned to Juventus in Italy’s Serie A in July after six years at Manchester United in the English Premier League. Juventus has not commented on the matter.
Source: CNN Brasil
I’m James Harper, a highly experienced and accomplished news writer for World Stock Market. I have been writing in the Politics section of the website for over five years, providing readers with up-to-date and insightful information about current events in politics. My work is widely read and respected by many industry professionals as well as laymen.
