Najila Trindade Charged with Extortion, Fraud over Neymar Rape Allegation
September 11, 2019
Najila Trindade, the woman who said Paris Saint-Germain forward Neymar raped her, has been indicted in Brazil on charges of procedural fraud, slanderous denunciation and extortion.
Per Goal, Sao Paulo police announced on Tuesday that charges had been brought against Trindade (referred to as N. in their statement) and her former partner Estivens Alves:
"Based on the evidence gathered during the investigations, the delegate decided for the indictment of N. and Estivens Alves, her former partner, for procedural fraud (art. 347).
"She [the delegate] also decided to indict Alves for disclosing material with erotic content from N. to a reporter.
"After clarifying the criminal materiality, the authority also decided for the indictment of N. in the crimes of slanderous denunciation and extortion."
Trindade told Brazilian police on May 31 that Neymar had raped her in a Paris hotel room on May 15 after she travelled to the French capital to meet him after they exchanged messages on social media.
She subsequently appeared on Brazilian television to discuss the allegations:
Per ESPN, she spoke to SBT's Roberto Cabrini and said that after she told the player they could not have sex without a condom, he became "aggressive" and left her "very traumatised."
Trindade also released a video which purportedly showed the pair arguing in a hotel room, in which she struck him and threw an object at him:
Neymar released a video on Instagram in which he denied the allegations:
The case was investigated by Brazilian police, but it was dropped in August for insufficient evidence.
Trindade told investigators she had a video showing Neymar attacking her. Co-prosecutor Estefania Paulin said Trindade also told them her phone had been stolen after she would not give them access to it or plug it into a computer to show them the video.
Her third lawyer, Danilo Garcia de Andrade, walked away from the case after she failed to produce the video.
Trindade's first attorney, Jose Edgard Bueno, had dropped her after she filed the rape accusation with police. Per BBC News, he said the model had initially accused Neymar of "physical violence," so the allegation was "incompatible with the strategy" they had agreed.
Yasmin Abdalla took over before leaving the case to Andrade, her partner.