Walid Mesloub, a former Lorient player in particular, was given an 18-month suspended prison sentence for “money laundering” in an alleged drug trafficking case.
Tried in correctional, the former Algerian international (36 years old), was found guilty of having facilitated the purchase, exchange or resale of luxury cars, transactions which could reach more than 70,000 euros each for the account of Mr. Van Thang N., 38, nicknamed “the Chinese”, the main suspect. The latter will be tried on May 31 and June 1 for drug trafficking.
At 36, the former midfielder was tried on Monday along with nine other people, including the main accused, Van Thang N. known as “The Chinese”, prosecuted for cocaine trafficking. A man the former footballer met in 2015 when he was looking for a quad for one of his children.
Mesloub had no knowledge of the traffic
The current assistant coach of the RC Lens reserve for 1,600 euros per month, admitted Monday at the bar the exchange of vehicles while claiming to have “not seen the harm” against a man who “earned very well his life”.
The prosecutor, who requested a two-year suspended prison sentence, said he could not prove that the former player had knowledge of the traffic. He nevertheless considered that he had “not only suffered the proposals” of the “Chinese”, and that he was also “in a position of offer to facilitate the acquisition of vehicles for him”.
At the material time, Walid Mesloub bought several luxury vehicles from Van Thang N. A Range Rover Evoque, an Audi S1, an Audi RS4, an Audi RS6, a Mercedes AMG C63S, a Mercedes GLE63S, a Mercedes GLC43 and a Lamborghini Huracan at 180,000 euros, as listed by L’Equipe.
The player explained during his hearing in April 2021 that he was duped by his friend on the purchase of one of the vehicles. Except that the investigators found several other vehicles in his name and used by “the Chinese”.