Brian Brobbey has allegedly been involved in an extortion plot. (Image: Getty)
Sunderland forward Brian Brobbey was allegedly targeted by a criminal who attempted to extort him through threats against his family and the shooting of a close childhood friend. Brobbey’s transfer to Sunderland from Ajax during the summer enabled him to escape a distressing chapter in Amsterdam.
The Black Cats secured the Dutchman in a £21.5million transaction on transfer deadline day in September. This followed just months after Brobbey’s ordeal became publicly known in the Netherlands. Throughout the preceding two and a half years, the 24-year-old, along with his family and friends, had been targeted by a notorious Amsterdam criminal.
The offender, identified solely as Jeymon A in Dutch court records, has been imprisoned for 10 years for the attempted manslaughter of Brobbey’s friend, alongside firearm possession and illegal drug offences.
Brobbey has faced no accusations of wrongdoing.
Ensure our latest sport headlines always appear at the top of your Google Search by making us a Preferred Source. Click here to activate or add us as a Preferred Source in your Google search settings.
Whilst he has never faced charges relating to the purported extortion of Brobbey, The Athletic has used reporting from Dutch publication Het Parool and publicly accessible documents to detail the full scope of the case involving the Sunderland striker.
Brobbey was raised in Zuidoost, an Amsterdam suburb, and whilst attending the Valhalla music festival in December 2022, he was approached by Jeymon A. The criminal allegedly informed Brobbey that gangsters in Utrecht had been searching for him and he had resolved the matter and consequently required payment.
The footballer, who had recently returned to boyhood club Ajax from RB Leipzig, did not pay and intimidation tactics then allegedly ensued. Fireworks were allegedly posted through the letterbox of his mother-in-law’s property, an explosive device was hurled at Brobbey’s vehicle and his sister-in-law had her car set on fire.
Brobbey’s childhood friend arranged to meet with Jeymon A and was shot in the buttock and small intestine. He required emergency surgery to save his life and later messaged a friend to say he “took a bullet for him (Brobbey).”
Brian Brobbey during his Ajax days. (Image: Getty Images)
Shortly after the shooting, Brobbey received a message telling him he had to pay £130,000 or “we’re going to do it differently”. There is no evidence that he paid.
Throughout this terrifying ordeal, Brobbey did his utmost to keep matters under wraps and separate from his day job. He continued scoring goals for Ajax and Jeymon A was arrested on unrelated drug dealing charges, for which he received a nine-year prison sentence in September 2024.
He later received another sentence for the shooting of Brobbey’s friend.
Jeymon A’s lawyer Veerle Hammerstein said: “As Het Parool knows, my client was convicted of a shooting incident in 2023 and two other facts, which are not related to this incident. An appeal has been lodged against this ruling but a substantive hearing has not yet been scheduled.
“Although the blackmail of Brian Brobbey is mentioned in the file as a possible reason for this shooting incident, further investigation by the police has not yielded any evidence that my client was involved. He was never prosecuted for this type of extortion practice.”
Brobbey has been instrumental for Sunderland this season, netting five goals in 21 Premier League matches. The Black Cats currently occupy 11th place in the league following their promotion from the Championship, and Brobbey is aiming for a spot in the Netherlands’ World Cup squad this summer, having not represented his country since 2023.
EXPRESS SPORT ON FB! Get all the best sports news and much more on our Facebook page