“It destroyed me.” Yohan Mollo, footballer whose professional debut dates back to 2008 with Monaco, denounces manipulation by his former agents, which would have cost him “between 10 and 15 million euros”. Today stuck at the Banque de France and banned from banking, the 32-year-old native of Martigues revealed the affair on Saturday May 14, in an interview with Carré mediaspecialized in football and present only on social networks.
In October 2019, the former international hopeful, wanting to draw on his financial reserves, would have realized that the life insurance to which he thought he had subscribed and which was to contain more than ten million euros was fake. Yohan Mollo, who plays today in Hyères in National 2, also claims to have been the victim of several real estate scams. In addition, accounts and loans were opened in his name without his authorisation.
The judicial investigation, which had been going on for more than two years, recently ended. A first hearing before the Marseille Criminal Court is due to take place in September. The battle of numbers will be at heart of the trial. “The investigation revealed a proven embezzlement of 1.7 million euros, an audit firm expects 4 million“, assures Master Ceccaldi, his lawyer, while the total damage suffered by Yohan Mollo could be higher.
While awaiting trial, the former striker from Saint-Etienne and Caen, who also passed through Greece, Russia and Qatar, confided in franceinfo: sport to tell about his setbacks.
Franceinfo: sport: You say you were defrauded by your agents. What happened ?
Yohan Mollo: What happened to me is a movie. Never in my life could I have imagined this. My agents took their commissions, but it wasn’t enough for them, they also took my salaries. They took out various loans at the bank on my behalf, and bought goods and sold them at a loss. I have never witnessed a purchase or sale of property in my name, which is however mandatory.
I was also presented with life insurance and told that I had to invest the money to think about the future. I went to the office of an agency director: I was received, I was presented with official documents, there was nothing suspicious about it. But this life insurance never existed, the guy was in cahoots with them. All the documents were falsified. Some players were defrauded on the banking plan, others on the real estate plan, but me, all the documents which were made, I did not sign them!
Didn’t you realize that at the time?
When the lie is well put together with the right people, you can’t say anything because those people bring credibility to the story. I suffered manipulation for several years and several people, banks, notaries. Every time I was close to discovering the truth, there was always a new set-up that made me believe it existed.
People don’t understand how I could trust someone who ultimately betrayed me. But when you’ve been working with him for ten years, when this person eats at your parents’ table, when she kisses your nephews, when she’s there to protect you and tell you that everything’s fine, of course, you believe that you are in good condition. How do you know that the accountant is in cahoots with the agent? How to imagine that another guy, for another life insurance, is in cahoots with him, that two sports directors walk with him? It’s impossible. They cheated me my whole career, I only realized it three years ago.
Yohan Mollo the former striker of the @ASSEofficial @AS_Monaco @fczenit_en says he is “ruined” and “ripped off” out of more than 10 million euros by his former agents. He tells everything for the first time.
It’s SQUARE!
Full interview here: https://t.co/N92FSL2hW5 pic.twitter.com/Bsy4HSSO5h
— SQUARE (@lemediacarre) May 14, 2022
How did you react ?
I was at the end of my life, because I was far from my family [en Grèce, au Panathinaïkos, où il a joué entre 2019 et 2021, avec un prêt à Orléans en 2020], I had a lot of problems. But it’s been three years that I still do not understand why they did that! I often wake up at night, from 4 a.m. to 6 a.m., I can’t sleep.
“But I always end up always taking over. First there’s a period where you’re in pain, but after that it toughens you up. I wouldn’t say it makes you stronger because I’m hurt and I don’t like it. I’ll never forget.”
Yohan Mollo, soccer playerat franceinfo: sports
It does not go away, but you have to face your problems head on. Then there is my family watching me, and just for them, I have to stay strong.
How does this story impact your life today?
It destroyed me, but I have this strength of character and this mentality that always makes me come back to the charge. I’ve always had a salary and that allowed me to survive. It’s true that I have problems today, but I can afford to have a normal life because I still play, I get enough money to live. I know that many would have fallen into depression, would have done anything, but my life, I build it on this failure.
My happiness passes through the family. Money has never been the driving force in my life, but I have made sacrifices. The money I had to raise was not even for me, I wanted to share with my family so that everyone would be happy. I don’t need to live in a palace, I just need to have my father, my mother, my cousins, my sister, my nephew.