Real Madrid star, Karim Benzema admits role in blackmailing French international team-mate, Mathieu Valbuena over a sex tape.
Benzema, pictured wearing a white hooded top, arrives at the police station in Versailles for questioning today
27-year-old French football star, Karim Benzema, has admitted
involvement in an alleged sex tape blackmail plot against fellow France
international team-mate, Mathieu Valbuena.
The Real Madrid striker who was arrested judicial police in Versailles, west of Paris, on Wednesday, claimed he himself was a victim of blackmailers.
A source close to the investigation said; 'Karim Benzema has
admitted speaking to Valbuena at the request of a childhood friend, who
was approached by three blackmailers who were in possession of the sex
tape.'
The Versailles prosecutor has placed Benzema under formal criminal investigation, with a source close to the case saying: "We can confirm that he is being questioned over his role in this affair."
Benzema is linked with a plot to extort money from Valbuena. Other
arrests have been made in the Bouches-du-Rhone and Oise departments of
France.
The 31-year-old Lyon midfielder, Valbuena, was asked for money in return for the tape not being published.
Investigators are trying determine the extent to which Benzema was
aware of the intimate video featuring Valbuena, which found its way into
the hands of blackmailers.
According to a source, Benzema mentioned the sextape to Valbuena
during a meeting of the French team in early October and one of
Benzema's relatives was contacted by the suspected blackmailers with a
view to involving the footballer in their scheme.
Police are seeking to determine whether he was teasing Valbuena
when he mentioned the tape, or trying to make him pay the blackmailers.
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