French journalist: News of Hakimi transferring assets to mother are FAKE NEWS

French Journalist Gilles Verdez stressed that it wouldn’t be possible for Hakimi to put the property in his mother's name.

Rabat - While Morocco’s star football player Achraf Hakimi is in the process of filing for divorce from Tunisian Actress Hiba Abouk, the rumors circulating online indicating that he has long transferred his assets to his mother to escape losing half of them in a divorce are taking the internet by storm. 

French Journalist and sports reporter Gilles Verdez spoke out against the rumors, stressing that they are “fake news.”

In a report from French media Le 10 Sport, Verdez said that the rumors “are not true,” adding that while it is true Hakimi has a fortune of €70 million, Abouk also has €3 million. 

“But it's not true that he put the property in his mother's name, that wouldn't be possible,” the reporter said. “Not in Spain, not in Morocco, not in France.”

According to Omar El Adlouni, a professor at French university La Sorbonne, the allegations are impossible from a legal point of view, in addition to being “fake news.”

In a LinkedIn post, El Adlouni denounced the rumors explaining that under current laws regulating marriages in Europe, spouses cannot transfer wealth to escape splitting assets in case of a divorce as that is considered a criminal act punishable by law.

Under the defaults laws governing marriages in the majority of European countries, including France, Spain, Germany, and Italy, where Hakimi has resided for the last 10 years, everything acquired during the marriage by one of the spouses is shared in case of divorce, El Adlouni wrote.

Should Hakimi and his wife choose to keep their assets separate during their marriage, the law dictates that they sign a contract to this effect. 

However, his wife would have known as both of them would have signed the contract in front of a notary, and he would not have needed to transfer any assets to his mother, El Adlouni explained.

Noting the legal implications of a wealth transfer, the professor explained that if Hakimi had indeed chosen to transfer his assets to his mother before the divorce, his wife would have had to know, and he would pay up to 45% in taxes, a significant amount of money considering his fortune.

In case he decided to make the transfer after the filing of the divorce, he would be liable to 5 years in prison and a €75,000 fine, he added.

In the wake of the rumors, Hakimi’s mother Saida Mouh has said that she was not aware of any transfer of her son’s assets. 

“If he has taken any action to protect himself, I'm unaware of it,” she said.

While the rumors started circulating on social media, Spanish news outlet Marca reported on Friday, April 14 that Abouk was demanding half of Hakimi's assets when she reportedly discovered that he had nothing to his name.