Pogba trial: a reminder of the facts and what Mathias Pogba and the accused risk

The trial on the attempted extortion and kidnapping of Paul Pogba is opens this Tuesday, November 26 in Paris.

More than two years after the case, the Pogba trial opens in Paris this Tuesday, November 26, in order to shed light on the events that took place on the evening of March 19, 2022 in Seine-et-Marne, when world champion Paul Pogba found himself facing armed men demanding a large sum of money from him. The hearing, which is scheduled to last a week before the sixteenth chamber of the criminal court, will cause damage and Paul Pogba has already launched hostilities in an interview a few days ago. “Money changes people, “it can destroy your family”.

What happened during that famous evening in March 2022

On March 19, 2022, Paul Pogba is in France for a gathering of the French team. The international is heading to Roissy-en-Brie (Seine-et-Marne) to visit his childhood friends. Paul Pogba is from the family of Boubacar C. and Adama C., who are now on the defendants' bench. When dinner ends, the former Manchester United player leaves the place with three other “childhood friends”, in order to join a rented apartment by Adama C. à Montevrain. It is in this accommodation that Paul Pogba finds himself face to face with his five close friends. According to the file, between 00:46 and 06:13, all the protagonists, including Paul Pogba, turn off their telephone lines and hand them over to Roushdane K..

A “heated discussion” then began, according to the court file. The player's five friends made several reproaches to him and claimed to have been “let down”. They felt that they should be paid for this service because Paul Pogba had been “protected”.

Two hooded, armed men wearing bulletproof vests then enter the room. They are introduced by Roushdane K. as “his protectors” against “bandits” who want to extort or kidnap him. The two men then point their weapons at the French international before demanding the handover of 3 million euros in cash and 10 million euros by transfer. “Under threat, the player agrees to pay”, the court file states. Released in the evening, Paul Pogba returned to the Le Meurice hotel in central Paris. The next morning, he contacted his bank to make a transfer of 11 million euros, which was refused. He received repeated pressure for weeks.

The role of Mathias Pogba

According to the investigation, although his brother was not present at that famous evening, he would have put pressure on Paul Pogba in order to obtain payment of the amount demanded. On September 23, 2022, videos were published on social networks in order to encourage the player to pay the amount demanded. In front of investigators, Mathias Pogba claims that he had no intention of putting pressure on his younger brother.

What the accused risk

Presumed innocent, Mathias Pogba risks seven years in prison and several thousand euros in fines. Five defendants are also indicted in this case on the following counts

•  "extortion by an organized gang committed with a weapon"
• "arbitrary arrest, kidnapping, sequestration or detention of a hostage to facilitate a crime or an offence, followed by release before the seventh day for preparing or facilitating a crime or an offence committed by a gang organized”
• “participation in a criminal association with a view to preparing a crime”.

Already under judicial supervision, the defendants risk up to ten years in prison and 75,000   150,000 euros fine.

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09:45 – Who are the six accused ?

Three of the accused are childhood friends of Paul Pogba, two are acquaintances from the neighborhood where the Pogba family grew up in Roissy-en-Brie (Seine-et-Marne) and the last is his brother, Mathias Pogba.