Benzema cash seized by France in sex tape case
-
Serena set for remarkable Wimbledon return
-
Stocks climb, yen stays near 40-year low against dollar
-
Outgoing UK PM Starmer announces 'record' defence spending
-
Swim star Marchand limps out of French nationals as Europeans loom
-
Paralluelo joins Barca women's departures
-
UN says transport infrastructure must adapt to climate
-
Police hunt for Monaco bomb suspect after Ukrainian-born businessman wounded
-
Sommer, Acerbi, Darmian, De Vrij leave Inter Milan
-
Sommer, Acerbi, Darmian leave Inter Milan
-
Germany's labour market dilemma: rising unemployment despite vacancies
-
'Waiting like torture': Turks despair as Schengen visa delays mount
-
Skating allows Russian, Belarussians to return as neutrals
-
Venezuela rescuers in final push to find survivors as families mourn
-
Russian double Olympic figure skating champion Dmitriev dies aged 58
-
Over 1 million migrants apply for Spain's mass regularisation: PM
-
S. Africa deploys police as anti-migrant protests loom
-
Thousands from Philippine sect protest pro-Duterte senator's graft case
-
Monaco parcel bomb blast wounds Ukrainian oligarch
-
South Africa repatriations top 25,000 ahead of anti-immigrant ultimatum
-
Sweden face France's attacking firepower at the World Cup
-
Taiwan raids tech firms in China AI chip smuggling probe
-
Online same-sex romance series embrace AI 'freedom'
-
Morocco 'unstoppable' says coach after Netherlands thriller
-
New Oxford academic centre symbolises UK's big-donor era
-
Russia's small businesses pay the price of spiralling Ukraine war
-
Trump says Iran meeting set in Qatar, despite uncertainty
-
Paraguay shock Germany as Brazil, Morocco advance at World Cup
-
Morocco down Netherlands to reach World Cup last 16
-
NASA robot mission aiming to rescue space telescope
-
Asian stocks unable to track Wall St higher, yen holds at 40-year low
-
Mouse-that-roared Paraguay savors World Cup win over Germany
-
'We came from nothing': DR Congo dreams of England World Cup upset
-
Taiwan's ageing seaweed harvesters hope younger women wade in
-
Peruvian political heir Fujimori wins presidency
-
Key Venezuela port opens with US aid, as burials begin
-
What to expect as EU small parcel levy kicks in
-
Ambitious Japan search for answers after World Cup exit
-
Nagelsmann says won't 'run away' after Germany World Cup exit
-
How NATO will try to keep Trump happy at Ankara summit
-
Paraguay coach salutes 'extraordinary' World Cup win over Germany
-
Ultra-wealthy Chinese exile in New York sentenced to 30 years for fraud
-
Japan fans stunned as Brazil end their World Cup dream
-
Years on, families bury 68 Indigenous victims of Guatemala civil war
-
'Powerhouse' Haaland leads by example at World Cup: Norway coach Solbakken
-
'Deliberate' Monaco explosion wounds Ukrainian oligarch
-
Sadness and joy as breakaway Catholic group nears schism
-
Paraguay shock Germany, Brazil advance at World Cup
-
Multi-Billion-Dollar Global Sports Brand U.S. Polo Assn. Earns Global Awards and Recognitions Across Business, Sport, and Content Categories
-
HUNTING/HER Headhunter Talk with EnBW Board Member & CHRO Colette Rückert-Hennen
-
Germany dumped out by Paraguay in seismic World Cup shock
Benzema cash seized by France in sex tape case
French bailiffs have seized 230,000 euros ($260,000) from Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema over his conviction last year for complicity in a bid to blackmail former France team-mate Mathieu Valbuena with a sex tape, a source familiar with the case said Thursday.
A court ordered Benzema in November to pay a fine, damages and legal costs for pressuring Valbuena to pay off his blackmailers, as well as handing him a one-year suspended jail sentence.
Benzema "implicated himself personally, through subterfuge and lies, to convince his team-mate to submit to the blackmail", the court in Paris suburb Versailles said at the time.
Benzema has appealed the ruling, which came in the same year he made a stunning return to France's national squad after being dropped in 2015 over the blackmail allegations.
The 34-year-old has scored nine times for France since being recalled by manager Didier Deschamps for the Euro 2020 finals -- delayed by a year due to the coronavirus pandemic -- making him the fifth-highest scorer in the history of Les Bleus.
Benzema's performances have helped rehabilitate him in the eyes of many French fans and coach Didier Deschamps, and the seizure of his cash comes less than two weeks after he won France Football magazine's player of the year award.
Valbuena's lawyers turned to the bailiffs to recover the cash from Benzema after he did not pay up voluntarily.
A source close to the case said the Real Madrid star's account had been partially frozen since Friday.
Benzema's own lawyers want the money held in escrow while his appeal is heard.
"This is the logical consequence of the decision for immediate payment. We asked for an amicable agreement on payment, which was never reached," said Valbuena's lawyer Paul-Albert Iweins.
P.AbuBaker--SF-PST
