The French police have arrested Julia Simoni, who won last season’s women’s biathlon world cup, on Tuesday morning. The superstar is suspected of bank card fraud.
Two-time biathlon world champion and Olympic silver medalist Julia Simon26, has been taken according to the French media in police custody on Tuesday morning in Albertville (Savoie).
Last season, the Frenchman who grabbed the coveted crystal ball in biathlon at the end of the season is suspected of bank card fraud and their abuse for months.
Simon’s national team mate Justine Braisaz-Bouchet claims that Simon used her credit card without authorization to make online purchases.
Braisaz-Bouchet filed a criminal complaint in the summer of 2022 after his bank card had been used to buy products from the GoPro online store without his knowledge.
A person belonging to the background group of the French team has also reported a similar fraud. According to Braisaz-Bouchet’s claims, he lost almost 2,000 euros of money.
Simon has denied all charges. He has said that he is a scapegoat, having been a victim of identity theft himself.
The French media reported on credit card fraud for the first time in the spring of this year. Later in June, the French national biathlon team held a disciplinary meeting to discuss the matter. At that time, no solution was found yet. Disciplinary wanted to wait for the result of the preliminary investigation by the police.
Braisaz-Bouchet, 27, is also a successful biathlete who won Olympic gold in the combined start competition in Beijing and also has four World Cup medals in his trophy cabinet.
Suspected of credit card fraud, Simon is one of the richest biathlon athletes who net worth was estimated at five million dollars in June 2023.