Soccer star Paul Pogba’s brother arrested in connection with alleged extortion attempt
The brothers of the French soccer star Paul Pogba, who are currently suspended from the national team due to alleged match fixing, have been arrested in France. The brothers are accused of attempting to extort money from a club in Paris.
The arrest was made on February 23, 2015. The brothers are thought to be on a list of players banned from the national team after an investigation into alleged match fixing in their club.
The French newspaper Le Parisien reported that agents working with the club, AS Saint-Etienne, requested a large sum of money (€10,000) for the release of the brothers. The club told Le Parisien that only half of the requested sum was paid, and that the rest was to be sent back to the agents.
The brothers were arrested. They have not yet been formally charged.
According to the report, the brothers tried to extort €10,000 from the club to be released from suspension.
The club was reportedly threatened that if it did not comply with the demands, the club would lose 10 percent of its transfer fees for the remainder of the transfer window, which opened on January 1, 2015.
The club is not believed to have paid the demands.
The agent who allegedly took part in this extortion attempt is said to be a French businessman of Algerian origin.
The club was suspended from the national team in January 2015. The suspension was lifted in September last year following an appeal made by the coach of the team, Laurent Blanc.