Ismael Bangoura convicted of fraud in France

by Graeme Jackson

Monday Oct 22, 2018. 09:11

Former Guinea international Ismael Bangoura has been convicted of fraud by a court in Le Mans, France and handed a six-month suspended jail sentence and fined more than €130,000.

In addition, Bangoura’s house in Sarthe, France will also be seized as part of the punitive measures against him.

Bangoura, who is currently on the books of Saudi Arabiab top flight team Al Raed, was found guilty of illegally receiving unemployment benefits in France from March 2016 to March 2018, amounting to €141,000.

The 33-year old was reported to have registered with Pôle employ, (The French labour authorities) when his contract with his previous club FC Nantes ended in March 2016, qualifying him to receive unemployment benefits.

However, he apparently continued receiving payments from Pôle employ even after he moved to Saudi Arabia to join his current club in 2016.

The labour authorities filed a case against him in court in March, arguing that Bangoura had not informed them of his move to Saudi Arabia and claimed that he should not have been receiving unemployment benefits in France whilst being paid by his Saudi club at the same time.

In his defence, Bangoura's lawyer Maître de la Taste claimed that his client was playing in Saudi Arabia on a voluntary basis as he had no FIFA-approved contract.

Bangoura, who last played for Guinea in 2014, has also represented the likes of Gazelec Ajaccio, Le Mans, Rennes, Ukraine’s Dynamo Kiev, UAE’s Al Nasr and Qatar side Umm Salal in his club career.