French midfielder Mathieu Valbuena has broken his silence on the sex tape blackmail allegations brought up against his countryman Karim Benzema, all but confirming the Blancos ace’s role in the plot.
Benzema, who was taken into custody by Versailles police on November 4 for his role in a plot to extort Valbuena of €150,000, has been charged with complicity to blackmail and conspiring to commit a criminal act, charges which could land him a penalty of five years behind bars if found guilty.
Speaking to Le Monde, the 31-year-old Les Bleus star admitted that he cannot yet fathom the Real Madrid striker’s actions, saying: “I can’t defend the indefensible. I wouldn’t have done this to my worst enemy.”
A source close to the investigation claims that Benzema had approached his compatriot on behalf of a childhood friend who had been working with the blackmailers, with Mathieu now revealing that his team-mate tried to arrange a meeting between the two parties.
"He was not aggressive in his manner of talking, he did not talk about money concretely, directly. But when someone insists that I meet someone... hmmmm.
"I have never met anyone who is going to destroy a video for free just because they love me! You shouldn't treat people like idiots."
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The former Marseille midfielder also added: “…he repeated to me many times that I was dealing with ‘some bad people’. He told me, ‘It’s still quite hot this video. You must be strong.’
“Ok, so he also said, ‘If you don’t want that, it’s no problem. But I can introduce you to my friend.’
“We kept going back to that. I was more than disappointed. I told myself that it was quite simply a lack of respect. You can’t behave like that with anyone.
“In the end, when we were about to go, Karim said to me: ‘What have I to do? Give him your number? Give you his number?’
According to Benzema’s lawyer Sylvain Cormier, the 27-year-old “took no part” in “the blackmail or blackmail attempts". Nonetheless, Valbuena admits that he has been left “disappointed” by Karim due to his actions.
"I am very, very disappointed and I can only note that my relations with Karim were not as sincere as he makes out."
