The thesis of a Mathias Pogba «under pressure» had already been mentioned to AFP by a source close to the family.
France Info also claims that Pogba denied during this second hearing having hired a marabout to cast a spell on the star of the French team Kylian Mbappé.
According to previous information from France Info, confirmed to AFP by a source close to the case, Paul Pogba had confided to the investigators, during a first hearing, to have been trapped by childhood friends and two hooded men, armed with assault rifles, blaming him for not helping them financially. A sum of 13 million euros would have been claimed from him, and he claims to have paid 100,000 euros.
Among the suspects, he claims to have recognized his older brother Mathias.
The Paris prosecutor’s office on Friday opened a judicial investigation into the extortion denounced by the star of the French football team and Juventus Turin.
A preliminary investigation was opened a month ago in Paris into this incredible affair, initiated following a complaint filed by Paul Pogba on July 16 with the Turin prosecutor’s office. The investigations have been entrusted to two investigating magistrates, announced Friday the Paris prosecutor, Laure Beccuau, in a press release.
A judicial investigation against X for «extortion with a weapon in an organized gang, kidnapping or sequestration with release before the seventh day in an organized gang to prepare or facilitate the commission of a crime or an offense and participation in a criminal association in view to commit a crime».
The affair came to light after the publication on August 27 of an enigmatic video of Mathias Pogba, the player’s older brother and himself a professional footballer, who promised «revelations» about Paul.
The latter, his adviser Rafaela Pimenta and his mother, Yeo Moriba, also the mother of Mathias, had mentioned in a press release «threats and attempts at extortion in an organized gang» against Paul Pogba.