This is the role of lawyers. Plant doubt in the heads of those who will decide the fate, for example, that of Mathias Pogba and the five other defendants tried this week at the Paris Criminal Court for extortion and kidnapping on the person of Paul Pogba, during the night from March 19 to 20, 2022. The 16th chamber may have doubts after hearing the arguments developed by MaĂ®tre Morand-Lahouazi, Adama’s lawyer C., on the last day of the trial.
Thursday, the advice of one of “La Pioche’s” childhood friends was surprised by the attitude of the investigators. Why, he asked himself at the bar, did the police not dig a little deeper about the 13 million euros paid into a bank account of Paul Pogba located in Dubai? This figure can only be striking. This is exactly the amount claimed by the hooded and armed robbers in an apartment in Montévrain (Seine-et-Marne) the night of the trap, almost three years ago.
Negative balance of 33 million euros
The lawyer specified that the Emirati account had been opened at the end of 2021 and credited for the first time, with 13M, in April 2022, a few days after the facts. Does this mean that the 31-year-old had invested the money from the extortion attempt, therefore agreeing to pay? Me Morand-Lahouazi says that we lost track of this amount, the fault, he implies, of the direction of the investigation: “There are all these millions disappearing, €13 million in transfers, and that surprises no one! »
The lawyer also brought the court’s attention to another account held by Paul Pogba, this time in Germany, having displayed a negative balance of… €33 million as of August 31, 2022. The former Juventus and Manchester United player was unable to answer these questions, since he was absent from the audience all week. One more regret expressed by Me Morand-Lahouazi. Will these elements weigh in on the court’s thinking? Response on December 19, from 1:30 p.m., when the decision will be rendered.
