January 6 – Edwin Pindi’s name can finally be separated from a case that has lingered in the background of his career for almost three years.
On Monday, the Dunkirk Criminal Court cleared the current ESTAC Troyes chief executive of all charges linked to a 2021 investigation into alleged financial irregularities at USL Dunkerque, where Pindi was general manager at the time.
Prosecutors had asked for an eight-month suspended prison sentence, arguing that he played a role in an organised fraud aimed at securing public funding during the Covid period.
The case centred on a request for an exceptional €820,000 subsidy from the Dunkirk urban community, submitted at a moment when clubs across France were scrambling for survival.
Investigators alleged that elements of the financial documentation attached to that application had been falsified. The court, however, concluded that Pindi’s involvement could not be proven and dismissed the charges against him.
Others involved were not so fortunate – six former USL Dunkerque executives were convicted and handed suspended prison sentences, including Jean-Pierre Scouarnec, who served as club president from 2014 until 2022.
Scouarnec was cleared of the same organised fraud charge as Pindi, but found guilty in a separate case relating to financial misrepresentation.
According to La Voix du Nord, the court ruled that he had orchestrated a system of false invoices worth around €350,000, used to present a distorted financial picture to the DNCG, French football’s financial watchdog. As a result, he was dished out a 15-month suspended prison sentence.
Contact the writer of this story, Harry Ewing, at [email protected]