Franck Bichon, the former agent of Yohan Mollo, was tried on Wednesday in Marseille for having scammed and pillaged the assets of the former AS Saint-Étienne player (2013-2016). He was sentenced to five years in prison, two of which were suspended. While he was 20 years old and a young professional in Monaco, Mollo had, without any written contract, entrusted all his sporting, financial and property interests to Franck Bichon, also manager of a famous brewery in Aix-en-Provence .
Using false minutes of general meetings of SCI Maeyo, formed by Mollo and his sister, the agent had proceeded, without the player’s consent, to the sale at a loss of six of the nine real estate properties that he had acquired in anticipation of his retirement from football.
“Role playing” and “manipulation”
Mollo, now aged 34, also believed he had a life insurance policy worth 22 million euros. During performances by Franck Bichon organized in the premises of a Parisian bank and a La Défense tower, the player was presented with this life insurance statement attesting to this amount. Fake ones, the investigation showed.
Reading the deliberations on Wednesday, President Stéphanie Donjon spoke of real “role games” and mentioned “the extraordinary capacity for manipulation” of Franck Bichon on “a young footballer who is totally inexperienced in financial matters”.
Blondeau was released
Now permanently banned from exercising the activities of player agent and asset manager, Franck Bichon (50 years old) will have to pay €10,000 to Yohan Mollo in compensation for his moral damage. He will also have to pay him a provision of 1.4 million euros, pending an expert’s assessment of his actual financial damage. A previous private expertise had estimated the player’s losses at 4.2 million euros between 2011 and 2019.
Co-defendant in this case, former player Patrick Blondeau (55 years old), who played for Monaco and OM, was acquitted. Friend and associate of Mr. Bichon, he was prosecuted for concealment of breach of trust, but the Marseille criminal court finally recognized him as a victim.
