He had tried to extort Jean-Pierre Bernès: Michel Gillibert has just been sentenced to four years and six months in prison, including three years suspended and a fine of 100,000 euros.
Former Marseille court administrator, Michel Gillibert was sentenced on Monday March 27 to four years and six months in prison, including three years suspended for having orchestrated, at the end of 2014, an extortion attempt targeting Jean-Pierre Bernès, former leader of the Olympique de Marseille became players’ agent.
The former lawyer, now 70, was also fined 100,000 euros by the Marseille Criminal Court. Five years in prison, including three years suspended and a fine of 150,000 euros, were requested by the prosecution on Wednesday.
Also found guilty of criminal association and breach of professional secrecy, Mr. Gillibert will serve the firm part of his sentence, i.e. eighteen months, under the regime of house arrest under electronic surveillance, specified the president of the court. .
Charged in 2014 by the commercial court with recovering a civil debt of 11 million euros from Mr. Bernès – the damages to which he and other ex-executives of the club had been condemned in 1998 within the framework of the so-called OM accounts affair -, Mr. Gillibert had commissioned one of his friends in connection with Marseille banditry to convince the players’ agent to settle for two million euros.
Michel Fedon, who has since died, and Richard Laaban, 78, also close to the middle, had added the requirement of a bribe of one million euros. Mr. Laaban was sentenced to four years in prison, including two years, to be served under an electronic bracelet, as well as a fine of 60,000 euros.
Mr. Gillibert, who acknowledges having had “a stupid idea“, has always denied having been aware of this request for bribes. According to him, he simply asked his two acolytes to find out about the solvency of Mr. Bernès and to try to find out if he had accounts at the foreign.
At the hearing, Jean-Pierre Bernès, who is notably the agent of the coach of the France team Didier Deschamps, had confirmed that he had not been the subject of violence or received threats but had been a victim “of a constraint.“
In order to emphasize that Mr. Bernès had not been impressed by this duo, Me Bonfils, lawyer for Mr. Gillibert, had pointed out that Richard Laaban, who was director of the OM store, and Jean-Pierre Bernès, kissed to greet each other outside the courtroom.
This attempt at extortion had ended after a few months when the judicial administrator had resumed legal channels in an attempt to recover this debt from Mr. Bernès. His successor finally succeeded in June 2018.
The two convicts will have to pay 15,000 euros in damages to Mr. Bernès, in compensation for his moral damage. The player agent’s lawyer had demanded one million euros.
(with AFP)