The theft of Kim Kardashian comes to trial: the star, the jewels and the gang of grandparents thieves
At that time, the only thing that Kim Kardashian I wanted to run away. And soon. “I want to go and return with my children in the United States,” he said before the police. “A private plane awaits me in Le Bourget.” Not so fast. The researchers of the Banditism Repression Brigade (BRB) of Paris still had some questions to ask. It was 4.30 in the morning of October 3, 2016 and, given the circumstances, they had come to register their complaint, even if it were in their hotel room. They had never seen the American star, 35, almost 36, so distressed. It seemed “shocked, very pale, with a disheveled face, without makeup,” they said. And rightly: an hour and a half before, two men, one of them armed, broke into their suite of the Hôtel de Poultalès, two steps from the Church of the Madeleine, in the center of Paris. At first she believed that it was “terrorists,” as she said. “I thought they were going to shoot me from behind. When I realized that the gun was really, I decided to do what they requested.” They asked for his jewels, then they tied his feet and hands and, before taking it to the bathroom, they put adhesive tape in his mouth. Ten minutes of nightmare. “I had an indescribable feeling, as if my chest’s heart came out,” he says. And then add: “I knew I was going to die.”
He also explains that he did not see the two criminals much because they were hooded. One must measure about 1.80 meters and the other just over 1.70. The researchers seized several objects that thieves could have touched to perform DNA tests. They took samples of the dolls, ankles and hair of Kim Kardashian and jet. Soon cameras from all over the world would arrive. The only thing there would be to record is an innocent red portal.
Almost a decade later, 10 accused with unique profiles will appear before the Court of First Instance of Paris from April 28 to May 23. The three main protagonists, suspected of having broken into the Hôtel de Poultalès, now have between 68 and 71 years. One carries an auditory device, the other has difficulties in walking. Together, they are “grandparents thieves”, indicated for having participated in one of the most popular robberies of the last decades, with an estimated loss of nine million euros.
This is the story of a fleeting encounter between two universes located in opposite ends. On the one hand, a world star that became the queen of social networks thanks to a sexual video and a Telerreality program; on the other, a band of old thugs, multirreincidents and today with health problems. A Californian with an improbable fortune faces a diverse group of criminals who gravitate in the poor suburbs of Paris.
The majority of the defendants – presumably innocent to this day – continue to deny their participation in the robbery. A few have confessed halfway, taking care not to involve others and limiting themselves to admitting that they were overwhelmed by events. These eloquent thieves were sought for weight documentaries in the United States and famous publishers from Paris, all eager to collect their testimony. Only one accepted. He walked through all television programs, under the fulminating look of his supposed accomplices. According to him, I didn’t even know who Kim Kardashian was before choosing her as a goal. “What struck me the most was his carefree attitude,” says Patricia Tourancheau, who interviewed most of those involved to write Kim et les papys braqueurs (Seuil, 2024) (Kim and grandparents thieves) . “They have a very professional air, but at the same time they look like fans. Yes, they have good information, but they also get a lot of instinct.”
Jewelry parade
Shocked, Kim Kardashian has rarely talked publicly about his kidnapping, something striking in someone who does not usually keep anything in front of his hundreds of millions of followers, always ready to share his family life and his love swells. But this episode was a real trauma for her. Even so, he has made it clear that he will testify in person before the Criminal Court of Paris. “For now, Mrs. Kardashian reserves her testimony to the court and does not want to comment at this stage,” wrote his American lawyer, Michael Rhodesin a statement. “He has a deep respect and admiration for the French judicial system and has been treated with much respect for the authorities.”
“It could be a really incredible moment of audience,” one of the defense lawyers relies. But beyond the media morbidity, the trial will serve above all to bring to light a judicial investigation of great proportions. For months, BRB agents mobilized important resources to find the authors of the spectacular robbery. The reputation of the French police at an international scale was at stake. And this is, according to them, the script of the coup.
In the beginning I was Aomar. Son of Harkis (Muslim Algerian soldiers who fought with the French army during the Algerian War), arrived in France with only seven years. He grew up in Cormeilles-En-Paraisis (Val-D’oise), in a simple social housing floor, surrounded by fields. He started with small robberies from a young age, he was first arrested at 14 and then met the Juvenile Wing of the Évreux prison. His judicial curriculum is an endless list of sentences, increasingly serious. Theft, robberies and aggressions led him to enter and leave prison for years. In 2010, justice lost her trail. Actually, he escaped to avoid a five -year sentence for drug trafficking and possession. But researchers do not give up. They know that living in clandestinity is expensive, and that the old criminals are rarely reinforced. Aomar continues to wander through the bars of the capital, counting his old feats, although his physique no longer gives him to get into great trouble. The exmaronist is half deaf and wears glasses with thick lenses such as bottle asses. He lives at the expense of his partner, who is not in money either. And when something silver enters him, he loses everything in the casino. Therefore, although the years weigh, he is always on the prowl of a new blow ..
Aomar has an appointment with his destination in a bar of Marais, in the heart of Paris, where the smoke of the cigarettes and Ricard’s vessels are mixed on the terrace with sexagenaries of casual and sharp talk. By May 2016, a chivatazo reaches its ears: the woman of a famous rapper regularly goes to Paris during the fashion weeks. He never separates from his jewels, a fortune in diamonds that he likes to exhibit on his social networks. The business introducer ensures that he has a solid source, who works for this American princess during his visits to the capital. Every time, it is housed in a kind of luxury Apartahotel, but without much surveillance. On paper, the plan is very simple.
At that time, Aomar did not know Kim Kardashian. But he appreciated the deployment of jewels of his future objective, including that ring engasted with a diamond of 18.8 carats that had given him three years before his then partner, Kanye West. Worth? Four million euros. According to the accusation, Aomar gathered a well structured team, a criminal association formed for the occasion with trusted friends, mainly former thugs of the same age, whom he met in Bistós Parisinos. It is also said that it carried out an initial exploration to check the low level of security of the establishment where Kim Kardashian was housed. It was enough to push the door under the wrought iron porch, without typing any code, to access a paved patio adorned with statues, which gave a museum open to the public. The Hôtel de Pourtalès was in the background. The only limitation was that you could not access by car. I would have to go by bicycle.
She calls 911
In June 2016, Kim Kardashian and Kanye West traveled to Paris to attend another fashion week. At that time, Aomar’s team would have considered going to action, then back. They were not yet ready and there were still too many photographers around Kim. Better to be patient and wait. Especially since the team continued to reinforce. According to the accusation, one would have added Didierthat of blue eyes. A unemployment plumber, fond of wines from Côtes-Du-Rhône, with a dozen background in his judicial history. He has spent 23 years in prison for robberies, drugs, robberies … and now he lives with his head full of tinnitus, after long seasons supporting the constant cries of the prison centers.
An old friend of Aomar would have joined the group: Yunice. Same Algerian roots, same chaotic youth, same well -loaded criminal record. He has also spent two decades in prison, since his first sentence in 1971. Therefore, when his friend tells him about a job with the woman of a famous rapper, he doubts. I didn’t want to return to drugs. In addition, now that he has heart problems, he is not seen committing a bicycle robbery. But also owes his friend 3,500 euros. And the fear of missing what could be one of the greatest robberies of the decade ends up convincing him.
Cath Kastner
The opportunity arrives at the beginning of the fall of 2016, during a new fashion week in Paris. Kim Kardashian lands on September 28, 2016 at 10:40, in a jet private, at Le Bourget airport. This time, she appears without her husband rapper, accompanied only by her sister Kourtney, her mother, an assistant and a bodyguard. Quickly, an army of photographers is launched behind them, but as soon as they reach the Parisian residence of La Estrella, the Hôtel de Poultalès, everyone stops. You have to imagine a luxurious Hôtel partulier In the eighth district, that type of exclusive place that can only be accessed if you are rich, famous – and if you are both, much better. Madonna, Beyoncé and Jay-Z Some nights have passed there. Prince rented the place for a private party in 2010, while the player Zlatan Ibrahimović He lived in him for a year. Kim Kardashian and Kanye West are also common. In fact, it was there that they stay during their wedding in 2014. There are 11 apartments decorated with good taste, with prices ranging between 1,000 and 15,000 euros per night. Kim Kardashian is installed in one of the suites More luxurious, the Garden Duplex, a space of 345 square meters on the first floor, which mainly serves as a dressing room. It is there where he returns to change, since he needs at least three sets per day. Their days are full of these fluctuations, between a Fitting In Balmain with Olivier Rousteinga lunch in a restaurant near Montaigne Avenue and the numerous parades.
