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By Conor Gaffey
Staff Writer
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Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema was charged on Thursday in connection with an extortion plot involving a sex tape allegedly featuring one of his French national team-mates, AFP reported.
Real Madrid striker Benzema, 27, was arrested after coming to a police station near Paris on Wednesday. AFP reported that the French prosecutor's office in Versailles, near Paris, said that Benzema was charged with complicity to blackmail and conspiring to commit a criminal act. The footballer could face a prison sentence of at least five years if found guilty, according to AFP.
Benzema is alleged to have been involved in a plot to blackmail Mathieu Valbuena, who currently plays for French club Lyon. Both Benzema and Valbuena were dropped from the French national squad for upcoming matches against England and Germany, France coach Didier Deschamps confirmed on Thursday. Benzema has also been banned from making contact with Valbuena.
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AFP cited a source in the investigation who said that Benzema admitted to approaching Valbuena about the sex tape "on behalf of a childhood friend," who in turn had been asked by the the blackmailers to extort money from Valbuena.
French daily Le Parisien reported that Benzema's lawyer, Sylvain Cormier, said the player was innocent. "Karim Benzema has nothing to hide," said Cormier. "He supports his friend, Mathieu Valbuena, with all his heart. He took no part, I state this again—no part—in the blackmail or blackmail attempts."
According to AFP, the blackmail case opened in June when Valbuena lodged a complaint with police after being contacted by an unknown person claiming to be in possession of the tape. Three suspected blackmailers were charged and detained in October.
Valbuena refused to comment on the case on Thursday, but the profile picture on his official Facebook page showed Benzema with his arm around Valbuena.
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