The Real Madrid forward was accused ofblackmailing his former French teammate by acting as a middleman between the player and the blackmailers. In November 2021, Benzema was found guilty and sentenced to a one-year suspended jail sentencefor complicity in a blackmail plot against Valbuena over an intimate video.

The 34-year-old was also ordered to pay a fine as a compensation for legal costs and damagesproduced on Valbuena for his allegedrole in this case. Benzema appealed against the verdict at the time but had been forced to pay now, although he will reportedly appeal again.

Benzema forced to pay €230,000 in compensation over Valbuena tape blackmailcase

According to Le Parisien, Karim Benzema was seized €230,000 from his bank account over his last year conviction in the blackmail case as he didn’t pay the fines voluntarily. The report adds that Valbuena’s lawyers could have had the striker’saccountsfrozen if he didn’t pay.

“These are the logical consequences of the immediate payment decision. We asked for an out-of-court payment that never happened, so we have moved on to the next step,” saidValbuena’s lawyerPaul-Albert Iwen, per AFP, as quoted by As. Benzema’s lawyers have professed his innocence all these years and are expected to appeal this latest decision as well.

On the pitch, things are going much better for the Frenchman. Benzema has scored 24 goals in 28 appearances for Real Madrid this season, while he has been on the scoresheet nine times since he was recalled to the France national team last year.