New Telegraph

JUST IN: Real striker, Benzema, found guilty in sex tape blackmail trial

 

France and Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema has been found guilty of conspiring to blackmail a fellow French footballer with a sex tape.

A judge handed Benzema a one-year suspended jail term and ordered him to pay a €75,000 (£63,000; $84,000) fine, reports the BBC.

Benzema, 33, was one of five people put on trial last month over the attempt to extort Frenchman Mathieu Valbuena.

The scandal has stunned the football community in France and both players lost their national team places.

The case dates back to June 2015, when the two footballers were at a French training camp.

At the camp, Benzema put pressure on Valbuena to pay off the blackmailers, whom he had conspired with to act as an intermediary, prosecutors said.

Benzema has always denied the allegations and insisted he was only trying to help Valbuena get rid of the compromising video.

The player has since returned to the France team and is expected to start for Real Madrid on Wednesday night when they play FC Sheriff Tiraspol in the Champions League.

Benzema was not present in court in Versailles for the verdict, nor was Valbuena who plays for Greek club Olympiakos.

Read Previous

$1.9m fraud: Nigerian sentenced to seven years prison in US

Read Next

Anambra guber: Tribunal yet to receive petitions six days to deadline

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *