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Reuters
Karim Benzema will be the subject of a criminal trial for complicity in the attempted extortion of a sex tape in 2015 from his former teammate in the France team, Matteo Valbuena, according to the Versailles prosecutor’s office today.
It is suspected that Real Madrid star Benzema instigated Valbuena to pay the blackmailers who threatened to reveal an intimate video of him, and the former admitted to interfering in the case at the behest of one of the extortionists.
The prosecution said four other men had been charged with attempted extortion and another was also charged with breach of trust.
According to the prosecution, Benzema revealed to Valbuena the existence of the tape in October 2015, while the France team was at the camp for a friendly match against Armenia in the southern city of Nice.
Benzema claimed at the time to have intervened with Valbuena at the request of a childhood friend who had taken refuge with the three fraudsters who were in their possession, according to a source close to the file.
The source explained: “He (Benzema) agreed with his childhood friend what he had to say so that his teammate could negotiate with him exclusively.”
He added that Benzema had claimed that he “wanted to do his friend a favor” without thinking he was hurting Valbuena.
Benzema, 33, has been absent from the France team since August 2015 due to his role in the affair.
Source: AFP
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