Last month, Djibril Cisse, the former Liverpool, Sunderland, and Queens Park Rangers striker was arrested over the same plot, but later released without charge.
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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’.
News agency AFP says Benzema, who plays with Valbuena for the France national team, emerged from the headquarters of the judicial police at Versailles at around 9am CET on Thursday.
A judge will decide whether Benzema should be charged or regarded as an “assisted witness”, which in French law means he has not been formally charged but could be in the course of the investigation. The prosecution is thought to have requested his indictment.
Benzema, 27, faces up to five years in prison if he is found guilty of involvement in a blackmail plot.
Benzema’s lawyer, Sylvain Cormier, said his client contacted the judge in charge of the case as soon as his name was mentioned in the media last month to let him know he was willing to answer questions from detectives.
What is Benzema’s alleged involvement?
“Karim Benzema has been taken to the court to appear before an investigating magistrate who will decide what happens next in the procedure”, the prosecutor’s office said.
He is said to have agreed with the friend what to say to Valbuena after the friend was approached by the three men allegedly in possession of the footage.
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The allegations were particularly shocking, because Cisse and Valbuena played for France together, and for Marseille between 2006 and 2008, and were considered friends. “Benzema discussed the matter with Valbuena in October when the French worldwide team met up for Armenia & Denmark friendly games”.
