The Bastia criminal court has delivered its verdict in a case concerning Djibril Cissé. Released for tax fraud and laundering of tax fraud, the former football international was sentenced on Wednesday to eight months in prison and a fine of 20,000 euros for misuse of corporate assets and omission of accounting entries. The court also imposed an additional sentence of deprivation of the right to stand for election for three years.
During the September 11 hearing, where Djibril Cissé was not present, the prosecutor Jean-Philippe Navarre requested a one-year suspended prison sentence and a 100,000 euro fine against the former player who was suspected in particular of money laundering. tax fraud, misuse of corporate assets and omission of accounting entries. The prosecutor, on the other hand, requested the acquittal for acts of tax fraud initially targeted by the prosecution.
An investment in liquidation in 2020
A single-member simplified joint stock company (SASU) of the former Sporting Club de Bastia striker, domiciled in Furiani in Haute-Corse, was in the sights of justice. While the company was placed in compulsory liquidation in 2020, the associated current account remained in debt of 550,000 euros, which constituted, according to the prosecution, abuse of corporate assets.
The investigation considered that he had not declared this sum to the tax administration, which was the basis for the prosecution for laundering tax fraud: “He transferred money to his bank accounts,” the prosecutor argued. The investigation also reported a tax debt of 230,000 euros for failure to declare VAT and corporate tax.
Cissé points the finger at the accounting firm
For the defense lawyer, Me Malcolm Mouldaïa, the microenterprise was used to manage income linked to the image of Djibril Cissé, at the time of his retraining as a DJ and football consultant for television. “He has been going through this for years. He had difficulties with the accounting firm which did not manage the file well and did not inform him,” argued Mr. Mouldaïa, pleading for the release of his client for the majority of the facts.
“I have always said that I had not defrauded the tax authorities and the courts proved me right,” Djibril Cissé, for his part, welcomed Wednesday. “We have summoned the accounting firm before the Nanterre commercial court for lack of information and contractual breach and we demand that it pay all the sums which were paid by Mr. Cissé with regard to his tax audits”, added his lawyer further clarified, adding that there would be no appeal against the Bastia judgment.
