A former Premier League defender has been jailed for fraud after scamming his friend out of more than £120,000.
Lucien Aubey, 40, was handed a two-year jail term, with 12 months suspended by a court in the French city of Toulouse.
He previously made three Premier League appearances for Portsmouth in the 2007-08 season, when the club won the FA Cup under Harry Redknapp.
As well as winning five caps for Congo, he also played for Toulouse, Rennes and Reims in addition to clubs in Turkey and Cyprus.
Aubey and his co-accused Mohamed Dia, a clothes designer, allegedly told the man, named only as Sebastien, 42, that he would earn £1million in three years' time.
But he has now been found guilty of fraud after getting a friend to invest in the creation of a record label.
The individual had also previously landed a £170,000 payout following a road accident.
Aubey had previously been declared bankrupt and disqualified from setting up a company, while shoe repairer Sebastien went to the police but never saw his investment again.
He accused Aubey of threatening to harm his children after seeking repayment.
Sebastien, 42, said: 'I lost everything, and my wife wanted to commit suicide. I had to give up work.
'We split up, and those two [Aubey and Dia] just had a good laugh about it all.'
Aubey told the court: 'My money was tied up in Cyprus, held by my club Olympiakos Nicosia. This wasn't a fraud - I never robbed anyone.'
But prosecutors were able to reveal phone conversations between the ex-footballer and Dia, which demonstrated an intent to defraud Sebastien.
On Monday, the court ordered Aubey to repay €145,000, and to not contact his victim while Dia received a one-year suspended jail term for his actions.
