A gang of notorious criminals will go on trial in Paris today accused of the terrifying gun-point robbery of reality TV star Kim Kardashian, in a £8.5 million jewellery heist.
The audacious early hours raid in October 2016 took place at the height of Paris Fashion Week, and at the height of the socialite’s celebrity, then wife to rapper Kanye West.
Ms Kardashian, now 44, was alone in the penthouse apartment of her £13,500-a-night hotel, dozing on the bed in a silk night gown, when two men disguised as policemen burst into the room and put a gun to her head.
The celebrity was bound and gagged, ‘like a sausage’ and dumped in the bath of her ensuite bathroom while robbers spent 49 minutes snatching millions of pounds worth of gems and watches including her 18.88 carat diamond engagement ring.
As they fled, one robber dropped a platinum cross adorned with diamonds that was found the next morning.
Visibly traumatised Kim Kardashian fled the country by private jet after giving a brief statement to French detectives and was consoled by husband Kanye West who halted a concert, telling fans he had a ‘family emergency’.
In the intervening years, the mother told how she feared she would be killed and pleaded for her life, crying: ‘Don’t kill me, I have babies!’
Ms Kardashian has been denied justice for years, with delays on bringing the case to court blamed on the priority of high-profile terrorist trials.
Kim Kardashian West and chauffeur Michael Madar (R) arrive at ‘L’Avenue’ restaurant on October 2, 2016 in Paris, France
The socialite was bound and gagged at a hotel room in Paris in October 2016
The thieves said they arrived and left on push bikes
There were also fears that the publicity of this trial would destroy Paris’ reputation as a high-class tourist destination ahead of the 2024 Olympic Games.
But now the reality TV star is scheduled to relive her terrifying ordeal almost nine years ago when she gives evidence in the trial.
A career criminal known as ‘Old Omar’, is accused of masterminding the heist that was France’s highest value robbery in a decade and threatened the city’s reputation as the ultimate high-class tourism destination.
The advanced age of Omar, real name Aomar Ait Khedache, at 68, and his right-hand man Yunice Abbas, at 72, has led the gang to be known as the ‘Grandpa Robbers’.
Omar’s 79-year-old mistress Christiane ‘Cathy’ Glotin was also said to be involved.
Both men have admitted taking part in the robbery as their DNA was found on the ties used to bind Ms Kardashian’s hands and feet ‘like a saucisson’, as it is known in French slang.
In fact, Abbas has even written a book about his involvement, unambiguously entitled: ‘I Kidnapped Kim Kardashian’.
However, it is the extent of their involvement – and the part eight other accused played in the organisation of the multi-million-pound heist – that will be determined during the four-week trial at the historic courthouse, a stone’s throw from Notre Dame cathedral.
Plans began to be drawn up in the summer of 2016, when Old Omar got a tip that a ‘big American star was coming to town’ and that she was showing off her fabulous wealth on Instagram
Yunice Abbas poses with his book in Paris, France on February 8, 2021
Old Omar was fleeing justice at the time, having been arrested for his alleged involvement in a drugs racket, and was relying on his petite blonde mistress, Christiane Glotin (above), for safe houses to stay in
Gary Madar, the brother of Kim Kardashian’s Paris, is accused of providing the tip-off that the star would be alone on the night of the robbery as her bodyguard was accompanying her sister Kourtney to a nightclub.
Madar, a celebrity fixer, is alleged to have bragged to Florian ‘Flo’ Heroui, the owner of a Paris bar frequented by underworld figures, that he could provide details about a ‘very rich American’ who was coming for Paris Fashion Week.
Yunice has admitted he did not know who Kim Kardashian was before the robbery, simply telling the terrified concierge of the Hotel de Pourtales to take him to ‘the American rapper’s wife’.
Old Omar’s son Harminy Ait Khedache, known as ‘La Boule’ – the ball, is accused of tailing the reality TV star’s limousine as she was driven around the city.
Didier Dubreucq, whose nickname is ‘Blue Eyes’, is accused of being one of the two men who entered Kim’s penthouse and put a gun to her head.
Marc-Alexandre Boyer, Marc Boyer and Francois Delaporte are all accused of taking part in the robbery – by procuring weapons, vehicles and false identity documents.
Christiane Glotin, old Omar’s mistress known as Cathy, is accused helping the veteran gangster launder the gem haul after she was tracked travelling to Europe’s diamond capital Antwerp.
However, two men arrested for their part in the heist will not stand trial.
Pictures of gaffer tape used to gag Kim and Serflex cable ties used to bind her
François ‘Big Guy’ Delaporte (left) and Pierre ‘Big Pierrot’ Bouianère (right)
Marceau ‘Rough Nose’ Baumgertner (left) and Didier ‘Blue Eyes’ Dubreucq (right)
Pierre ‘Big Pierrot’ Bouianere, 72, is believed to be the robber who dropped the diamond encrusted platinum cross outside the hotel, has been ruled ‘unfit’ to stand trial as he is suffering from Alzheimer’s.
And Marceau Baum-Gertner, a notorious Parisian fence of stolen goods who was originally charged with the ‘concealment of gold, jewels and watches’, after he too was tracked to Antwerp, will also escape justice. He is dead.
A six-member jury will assist three judges to determine the role each defendant played in possibly Paris’ most high-profile heist in modern times.
And with sentences of up to 20 years in jail expected, many of the ‘Grandpa Robbers’ are likely to die behind bars if convicted.
