The fraud scandal cost her both her job and her income. Now there is a new twist in the case that has shaken French biathlon.

French biathlon star Julia Simon lost her job with the customs service as a result of the verdict in the fraud scandal involving her national team teammate last year. That left the 30-year-old with nothing, completely without a fixed income. She also lost a number of social benefits.

Also Read: Biathlon star convicted of fraud – Had hundreds of thousands in the bank

The French national team system is based on the athletes being formally employed by various government agencies, such as the police, the customs service or the armed forces. That is where they receive their salary, even though they are in reality full-time athletes. Other Central European countries have similar systems, including Germany, Italy and Austria.

“We had to find a solution”

Now a solution has been found for the superstar, who won three golds and one silver at the Olympics in Milano Cortina last winter, won the mass start World Cup and finished sixth in the overall World Cup. She has been hired by the regional ski committee Le Comité de Ski de Savoie.

“We had to find a solution for her,” the committee’s president Thierry Schoenauer told the French newspaper Le Dauphiné Libéré.

Simon has been employed by the committee since last spring on a work integration contract. The committee uses the same arrangement for ski cross athlete Youri Duplessis-Kergomard. Schoenauer revealed the details in Albertville last Monday, on the sidelines of the Base Camp Summit.

“It is an arrangement we were able to put in place with the ANS (the National Sports Agency), and it costs the committee nothing,” says Schoenauer.

The fraud case

In December 2022 and May 2023, a member of the French team’s support staff and Justine Braisaz-Bouchet filed complaints against Julia Simon for credit card fraud and theft, totaling a little over 2,000 euros. Simon denied it right up until the trial last autumn, where she confessed to everything.

Following the criminal case at the end of October 2025, Julia Simon was found guilty and convicted of fraud and theft, and sentenced to a three-month suspended prison sentence and a fine of 15,000 euros. In addition, the French Ski Federation (FFS) decided to ban Simon from taking part in competitions and training under the auspices of the IBU and the FFS for six months. Five of them were suspended. They also fined Simon 30,000 euros, of which 15,000 euros were suspended.

Simon was back on the national team in December 2025. She won three golds and one silver at the Olympics in Milano Cortina last winter, won the mass start World Cup and finished sixth in the overall World Cup.

Read More: Biathlon star confesses to fraud – Suspended prison sentence and fine

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