Paris: The Public Prosecution on Wednesday demanded three years in prison, including two suspended sentences, against Mathias, the older brother of French international midfielder Paul Pogba, in a session before the Criminal Court in Paris, about three years after he was accused of blackmailing his brother.
The prosecution requested that the prison sentence be imposed with an electronic bracelet, in addition to a fine of 10,000 euros, for his participation in an attempt to blackmail his brother with an amount of 13 million euros, and for exerting numerous pressures on him, his family, and his professional relationships in order to obtain this amount.
For the other five defendants in the case, who are childhood friends or acquaintances of Paul Pogba, prosecutors requested a prison sentence of up to eight years, a fine of 20,000 euros, and a ban on carrying weapons for ten years.
The Public Prosecution requested eight years’ imprisonment for Rashdan K., the suspected mastermind of the group who appeared before the court in detention, and five years’ imprisonment, including two suspended sentences, for Mashkoor K., Boubacar C., and Mamadou M.
Prosecutors requested five years in prison, including a one-year suspended sentence, for Adama C.
The defendants have been on trial for a week, mainly on charges of extortion, attempted extortion, and participation in a criminal and extortionist association.
The “Pogba case” began on the night of March 19 to 20, 2022, with an ambush of Paul Pogba in an apartment in Monteverrin (Seine-et-Marnes, a suburb of Paris). Two masked men held him at gunpoint in an attempt to extract 13 million euros from the midfielder, who was then playing for Manchester United in England and then Juventus in Italy.
The issue came to light after Mathias Pogba broadcast video clips on social media in four languages (French, Italian, English and Spanish), on August 27, in which he vowed to reveal “big things” about the world champion.
According to sources close to the player’s family contacted by Agence France-Presse, large sums of money were requested from Paul Pogba if he wanted to avoid publishing alleged videos harmful to him.
Paul told investigators that his blackmailers wanted to tarnish his reputation, by claiming that he had asked one of the marabouts (a cleric) to cast a spell on his teammate and Paris Saint-Germain star at the time, international striker Kylian Mbappe, something he denies.
