Bad judicial weather for Karim Aklil. Already sentenced, on May 10, to a six-month suspended prison sentence for “illegal exercise of the activity of a sports agent” (a decision which he appealed), the former intermediary recently received a new sentence, heavier, in a file relating to the chaotic management of Athlético Marseille (ex-GS Consolat, founded in 1964), a club in the northern districts of the Marseille city of which he was briefly the president. Also supported, at the time, by host and producer Cyril Hanouna, Athlético Marseille filed for bankruptcy in early summer 2022.
Following an appearance on prior acknowledgment of guilt (CRPC), on May 16, before the Marseille Criminal Court, Aklil was sentenced, according to our information, to ten months in prison suspended, with a ban on presiding over a sports association for a period of five years, for “use and complicity of forgery”, by accepting the sentences proposed by the prosecutor. At the disciplinary level, Karim Aklil (49) had already been sanctioned by the authorities in this case, three years ago, with a “prohibition for ten years from being dismissed from the FFF”.
A letter from Renaud Muselier hacked by an accomplice
At the heart of this case, revealed by The team in September 2019: the creation of a false letter from Renaud Muselier (Renaissance, ex-LR), boss of the South region (PACA), dated July 3, 2019 and addressed to Aklil. She specified that a “maximum sum of €230,000 has been secured as far as the regional council is concerned” in favor of the club, for the 2018-2019 season (during which he was still playing in National 2). A false document produced when Atlético Marseille was already in the grip of financial difficulties, which led it to an administrative demotion to N3, at the start of the 2019-2020 season.
This misleading letter, whose manipulation was invisible to the naked eye, was hacked by a third party, Grégoire N., at the request of the former president of Athletico. The return of IP addresses by the investigators notably made it possible to confuse Aklil and his Provençal graphic designer accomplice. The latter also admitted the facts and was given a five-month suspended prison sentence for “false”.
The FFF at the origin of the report to justice
In his initial defense strategy, Karim Aklil (who left the club presidency in the spring of 2020) claimed to have received the doctored letter (with the inflated sum of €230,000) “on his desk in an open envelope”. He had also highlighted “the malevolence that one or more of his collaborators could have had”. Requested following the aforementioned judgment, Karim Aklil’s lawyer, Me Alain Baduel, did not respond.
In this case, it was the FFF, alerted by the DNCG, which had made a report to the Marseille prosecutor’s office, triggering the opening of an investigation. “The FFF notes that its bodies have shown great vigilance and that justice has taken its course to punish the perpetrators of the fraud”we explain to the “3F”, which obtained a symbolic euro in damages. The two defendants must also pay €2,000 (including €1,500 for Aklil) in procedural costs to the Federation.
The sending of this letter to the trafficked amount had always been denied by Muselier and the South region. The “real” letter of July 3, 2019 mentioned a much lower promised grant amount, amounting to €76,000. Contacted, the Region, a civil party in this case, did not “did not wish to comment on this court decision”just like Renaud Muselier. The two defendants were also ordered to jointly pay a symbolic euro to the local community, in compensation for the damage suffered.
