'Dr. Mabuse' sentenced to three months in prison

Bernard Sainz, the so-called “Dr. Mabuse”, has been sentenced to three months in prison and fined €7,500 for his part in a horse doping affair by a court in Alençon, France.

The case dates back to 2005, when searches at race courses in Normandy, Chantilly and the Parisian hinterland yielded doping products including anabolic agents and growth hormone. Sainz was one of five men convicted for his part in the affair, along with trainers Yann-Marie Porzier, Jacques Augé, Jean-Philipp Dubois and Sven Pauwels.

The five were tried for “infractions against the laws on toxic substances, drugs, fraud and attempted fraud.” It is understood that they will all lodge appeals against their sentences.

“It’s a parody of justice, an arbitrary prison sentence,” said Sainz, according to tendanceouest.com.

A soigneur rather than a medical doctor, Sainz is already in the midst of an ongoing appeal against a three-year prison sentence he received in 2008 for his activities in cycling. The case refers to an incident in 2002, when suspicious medicines were found in his car on his return from a visit to one of his clients, the late Frank Vandenbroucke.