In April 2020, vet dr Wijnendaele suddenly discovered his name on some passports of Belgian horses and contacted the FEI.
Wijnendaele moved away from Belgium in 2005. As it turned out, Pierre Arnould used his stamp and signature for FEI passports. Arnould is former leader of the Belgian Endurance team and member of the FEI Endurance committee.
It concerns four horses that were in training with Arnould at the time of the fraud. One of the horses also took part in World Equestrian Games in 2018. The passports were validated with Wijnendaele's signature and stamp, but without the vial labels that came with the vaccinations. Veterinarian Wijnendaele claimed to recognize the manuscript as Arnould's.
FEI claims there are multiple cases of forged passports. Falsifying vaccinations is strictly forbidden, it violates health and safety rules at competitions. Pierre Arnould himself denies the incident and says that Wijnendaele gave him the stamps and his permission. According to him, the horses were vaccinated correctly and only used the stamp a few times.
Wijnendaele says this is not correct and has never given the stamps voluntarily. Pierre Arnould's vet, Stefan Midgen, says that he comes to vaccinate the horses and always checks and signs the passport during the vaccinations.
The FEI has decided that Arnould's actions are fraudulent. He is suspended for 20 months and has to pay a fine to FEI of 5000 Swiss Francs, or about 4,500 euros.
Source: Horse and hound