What happened on the night of March 19 to 20, 2022? The Paris criminal court on Thursday went into detail about the sequestration of which French footballer Paul Pogba was the victim, during the trial of six of his relatives.
“Shut your mouth and put your hands on your head!”: these were the first words of the hooded men upon entering the apartment where Paul Pogba and two of his friends, Adama C. and Roushdane K., were in Montévrain ( Paris region) that night.
In black pants and a denim jacket, Adama C. tells her version on the stand. He is one of six defendants appearing for their involvement in what has been described as the “Pogba affair”: blackmail, pressure and even kidnapping at gunpoint with the aim of extorting 13 million euros for the midfielder, who was playing at the material time at Manchester United then at Juventus Turin.
“They were armed and they had bulletproof vests,” remembers Adama C, very moved as he remembers the evening. He hesitates, sniffs and wipes his face with a tissue handed to him by his lawyer before continuing.
According to him, the two robbers immediately approached the footballer and asked him for 13 million euros for services rendered, these men claiming to have ensured the security of the French international for 13 years.
“Paul had his hands raised, his voice was trembling, he didn’t understand so they cocked their guns and Paul shouted: + I’m going to pay! I’m going to pay! +”.
According to Adama C., the robbers then threatened all three of them that they would harm them and their loved ones if they went to the police.
And in fact no one files a complaint, at least initially. The group of friends barely talks about what happened, according to Adama C., despite the violence of the events.
Paul Pogba will finally file a complaint in Italy in July 2022, before being heard in France a few days later.
“It’s a bit unfinished, isn’t it, as a request?” asked the president of the court. “They arrive, they rob you and they leave without giving any terms for payment, without giving an ultimatum?”
The representatives of the prosecution are also skeptical of this testimony which differs from that of Paul Pogba, absent at the hearing.
To investigators from the Central Office for the Fight against Organized Crime, he declared having been “trapped by childhood friends”.
According to the player, the armed men were already in the apartment rented by Adama C. and he heard them speaking in low voices with Roushdane K., the third friend present during the robbery.
Paul Pogba also said he saw a smile on Roushdane K.’s lips when he walked them to the door.
“How did these men know that Mr. Pogba was in this apartment that evening?” wonders Me Carine Piccio, Paul Pogba’s lawyer. “It was a place you took him to, it was supposedly improvised and he had never been there before,” she continues.
On the stand, Adama C. shrugs his shoulders, he has no explanation.
Adama C. like his co-defendant Machikour K. the day before confirmed that they all had criticisms to make of Paul Pogba who gave less news, who had not given the money promised for the projects of his childhood friends …
One month after the confinement, each of the friends received a transfer of 20,000 euros from the player leaving for Turin.
Paul Pogba’s other childhood friends must still be heard by the court as well as his big brother, Mathias, author of threatening videos in August 2022.
The defendants face up to ten years in prison.
The trial is scheduled to last until December 3.
