PAUL POGBA’S brother has been taken into police custody in connection with the blackmail plot against the Juventus star, according to reports.
The former Manchester United midfielder claimed in August he was the victim of an £11million plot by childhood friends and his own sibling.
Paul, 29, told authorities the group requested the money for “protection services” stretching back 13 years, it is understood.
A judicial investigation was opened on September 2 to look into the allegations of extortion with a weapon, kidnapping or kidnapping in an organised gang and participation in a criminal association.
And now Le Monde report Mathias Pogba, 32, decided to turn himself in to the authorities investigating the case.
Then the journeyman footballer, who lived with Riyad Mahrez before playing for Wrexham, is then said to have been placed in custody.
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It is alleged three other suspects have also been taken into custody yesterday and today.
Neither Paul nor Mathias’ lawyers have responded to contact from Le Monde.
The World Cup winner made the shocking revelations relating to a trip back to his home suburb of Lagny-sur-Marne near Disneyland Paris in March.
He says he was held at gunpoint by an extortion gang — and one of the plotters was brother Mathias.
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Pogba told police he was confronted by the group that included friends from his childhood and teenage years as well as two masked men armed with assault rifles.
The midfielder — married to Bolivian model Maria Zulay Salaues — then claimed he was forced to accompany them to a flat in nearby Roissy-en-Brie, where they demanded more than £11m for “protecting him”.
With the gang demanding £2.6m immediately, Paul tried to withdraw the money but his bank declined to authorise such a large amount.
Radio station France Info reported that the blackmailers had to settle for £85,000 in cash instead.
When the gang continued to try to extort money, Paul filed a criminal complaint through his lawyers.
He told cops that when the gang tailed him to Manchester and Turin, where Juventus play, his brother Mathias was present among the alleged conspirators.
Then the older brother, who is twins with Florentin, accused his famous sibling of paying for a witch doctor to curse talismanic French team-mate Kylian Mbappe
Paul has denied the claims and was publicly supported by Mbappe but Mathias — who played for a string of British clubs — labelled the Juve ace “a so-called Muslim deep in witchcraft”.
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On the pitch, Pogba is currently sidelined after undergoing knee surgery.
However, reports suggest he could still be included in the French World Cup squad even if he has only just returned to fitness because of his “special status” in Didier Deschamps’ team.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
