<!--Article Start--> <h3 style="text-align: justify">Real Madrid superstar Karim Benzema will have to undergo formal investigation in France for allegedly blackmailing fellow France international Mathieu Valbuena over a sex tape. The Frenchman might have to spend as many as five years in prison, if found guilty.</h3> <p style="text-align: justify">Karim Benzema was arrested early on Wednesday for reportedly blackmailing Valbuena over sex tape and indulging in a criminal group. Benzema arrived at a police station in Paris and stayed there all night to attend the hearing on Thursday morning. A statement from the Versailles prosecutor said the alleged crimes for which he was being investigated, could carry a prison sentence of at least five years.</p> <p style="text-align: justify"><strong>Lawyer claims Benzema is innocent</strong></p> . <p style="text-align: justify">His lawyer, Sylvain Cormier claims Benzema is innocent, and that the 27-year old played no part in the scandal.</p> <p style="text-align: justify">"He played no part, I repeat no part, in any blackmail or attempted blackmail," said Cormier, as reported by <a href="http://skysports" target="_blank">skysports</a>.</p> <p style="text-align: justify"><strong>Predicament for Benzema</strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify">Valbuena currently plays for Lyon and has played with Benzema for the French national team.</p> <p style="text-align: justify">The prosecutors have put Benzema in a predicament, as he has been heavily exposed ahead of Euro 2016 in France next summer.</p> <p style="text-align: justify">The investigators have questioned quite a few people related to the scandal, including Djibril Cisse who is apparently involved in the alleged crime.</p> <!--Article End-->