How French Pensioners Robbed Kim Kardashian and Walked Free

The haul of five robbers and seven accomplices was jewelry worth nearly $10 million – the largest personal robbery in France in the last 20 years. But the robbers made serious mistakes and were arrested within a few months. While the investigation dragged on, one of the 12 defendants died, another’s Alzheimer’s progressed to the point where he could no longer attend court, and a third became deaf and mute from old age, communicating with the court in writing.

The organizer of the robbery is considered to be Aomar Ait Khedache, nicknamed “Old Omar”. He received the harshest sentence: three years in prison and five years probation. Taking into account the time spent behind bars after arrest, Khedache was released right from the courtroom. The court applied the same principle to the other convicts. This was clearly not what the prosecution wanted. “The sentences are quite lenient, I understand you caused harm,” said Judge David de Pa. He then explained that “the defendants’ health condition does not allow depriving any of them of their freedom.”

“The Wife of a Famous Rapper”

At the time of the robbery, Old Omar was already 62 years old, and now he is in his eighties. Khedache came to France from Algeria at age seven with nine siblings. The family settled in social housing in a Paris suburb, where he survived by stealing and was first arrested at 14. As he grew older, his crimes became more serious and sentences longer. In 1977, at age 23, Khedache was imprisoned for robbery for the first time. While serving a 10-month sentence, his pregnant wife died in a fire. Khedache suffered a nervous breakdown and was prescribed electroshock therapy. Since then, he has had hearing problems – now he neither hears nor speaks.

Old Omar remarried a woman with a small child named Harmini. The stepson grew up and also ended up on trial in the Kardashian jewelry case: investigators believe Harmini was the gang’s driver.

Tired of robberies and thefts, Khedache switched to quieter drug dealing. But the police caught up with him again. He faced five years in prison when in 2010 he suddenly disappeared. It later turned out he hadn’t fled but stayed right under the police’s noses: he got fake documents and moved in with his mistress.

The investigation’s version is this: in spring 2016, Old Omar is smoking a Gitane cigarette in the Le Tabloid bar in Paris’s Marais district when the bar owner, Florent Herouy, tells him about a certain “wife of a famous rapper”. She regularly visits Paris, carries jewelry worth millions, and has someone in her circle who leaks information about her movements.

But they can do without the services of a “mole”. The rapper’s wife, Kim Kardashian, posts on social media what she is doing and where she is going. She even shares photos of her jewelry and their value – practically making a list for robbers. Plus, in Paris, she stays at a luxury celebrity hotel with security worse than many mid-range Parisian hotels. Old Omar decides to assemble a team for the job, mostly friends of pre-retirement age.

Kardashian stayed in Paris at the Hôtel de Pourtalès, also known as No Address Hotel. The building was constructed in 1839 for Swiss-French financier and diplomat Count James-Alexandre de Pourtalès. In 2004, French businessman and hotelier Alexandre Allard bought the mansion, combined it with a neighboring building, and opened a hotel – more precisely, a luxury residence divided into nine apartments rented by the day. In 2013, a night cost from €1500 to €2000, and the Sky Penthouse suite was €15,000. The media were assured that booking was only possible by recommendation from a guest. Guests included Jay-Z, Beyoncé, Leonardo DiCaprio, Prince, Madonna, and other superstars.

The hotel is located in an inner courtyard, which is a big advantage for celebrities: paparazzi cannot spy through street-facing windows. But anyone can enter the courtyard, much to Old Omar’s surprise: there is a museum there. Even if the museum is closed, the gate to the courtyard is not locked. Moreover, for guest privacy, there is no video surveillance in the hotel. Security consists of just one doorman.

The robbery was planned for June 2016, when Kardashian came to Paris with her husband Kanye West. But the aging gang decided they weren’t ready yet and feared West might fight back. They used the break to recruit more members. Among others, Old Omar’s old friend, 63-year-old Younes Abbas, joined the operation.

He was first convicted in 1972 and spent nearly 20 years in prison overall. He didn’t want to go back but had heart problems and feared that if anything went wrong, he wouldn’t be able to outrun the police. But Abbas owed Old Omar €3500, and his pension was small. So he decided to take the risk. Partly it paid off: while awaiting trial, Abbas wrote a book titled J'ai séquestré Kim Kardashian (“I Kidnapped Kim Kardashian”), which became a bestseller.

The Old Men Go to Work

In autumn 2016, Kardashian returned to Paris for Fashion Week. Instead of West, she brought her sister Kourtney. On the night of October 2–3, Kourtney went to the club L'Arc near the Champs-Élysées. Kardashian sent her bodyguard with her and stayed in the room to work. Later, Kardashian admitted she always felt safe in the French capital: “I could go out to eat or take a walk in the middle of the night without security.” What did she have to fear in her hotel room?

At the reception desk that night was Watiki Abderrahman – a 39-year-old graduate student from Algeria working on a PhD in semiotics and discourse analysis at the Sorbonne. It was almost 2:30 a.m. Watiki was chatting with a friend on Skype when someone knocked on the hotel door. Five people in police uniforms stood on the porch. Watiki was not surprised: neighbors sometimes called the police complaining about noise. But when he opened the door, a gun was pointed at him and he was handcuffed. “We came for the money,” one attacker shouted. “Who’s in the hotel now?” another asked. Watiki gave a vague answer: guests of Fashion Week. “Where’s the rapper’s wife?” one robber clarified. Three stayed downstairs, and Watiki, under gunpoint, led the other two to Kardashian’s room.

At that moment, she was lying on the bed in a robe, typing on her laptop. When the door opened, she first thought it was her sister back. But she quickly realized the mistake, grabbed her phone... the American emergency number 911 doesn’t work in France, and she didn’t know the local number (which is 17). Kim tried to call her bodyguard, but the men burst into the bedroom and took the phone.

Kardashian feared they were terrorists who would kill or rape her. But instead, one of the men started shouting something incomprehensible. Actually, it was the American word “ring” with the French article: “La ring, la ring,” but the robbers had a terrible accent, and Kim was not in a state to process quickly. The concierge had to act as translator. The robbers wanted the diamond wedding ring – a $4 million gift from Kanye West that Kim had flaunted on social media.

Kardashian gave the robbers the ring from the nightstand. They tied her up and taped her mouth and eyes. But before that, Kim noticed the thieves finding the jewelry box. Her phone started ringing, and the concierge assured her it was the bodyguard, who would be there any minute if she didn’t answer. The robbers quickly fled.

Their loot: about $1000 in cash from Kardashian’s wallet and jewelry worth around $10 million.

Among them were two Cartier diamond bracelets, a Jacob gold and diamond necklace, Lorraine Schwartz diamond earrings, a gold Rolex, and other items.

The five criminals fled, using bicycles to make tracking harder. Abbas was unlucky: his tire went flat, making riding difficult. He fell and scattered the jewels on the sidewalk. He collected them but not all. The next morning, a Parisian woman on her way to work found a platinum diamond cross. She wore it all day to the envy of colleagues. In the evening, watching TV, she heard about Kardashian’s robbery and finally understood where the jewel came from – it was not a trinket but a branded item worth $33,180. The next day, she took it to the local police station.

By the way, Abbas swears he never followed celebrity news and didn’t fully understand who was being robbed. Only the next morning, watching the news, did he finally realize who the “wife of the famous rapper” was.

Secrets of the Investigation

Parisian police had a tough job: the crime was discussed worldwide, but at first glance, chances of solving it seemed slim. The main suspect became night doorman Watiki. He was interrogated repeatedly. Eventually, police realized he was innocent and dropped suspicion. But Watiki, involved in the scandal, lost his French visa and had to return to Algeria without finishing his studies.

However, the police got lucky. The robbers wore gloves, but traces of their DNA remained on the tape and plastic ties used to bind victims. These led to Old Omar, who lived under false documents. Also, after the 2015 terrorist attacks, Paris was covered with surveillance cameras, allowing police to track many movements of the robbers.

They weren’t arrested immediately but were put under surveillance. The robbers used phones and disposable SIM cards bought specifically for negotiations. Still, they were identified and wiretapped. The suspect circle expanded. The owner of the Marais bar where the story began was acquainted with a certain Gary Madar, who organized celebrity meetings at the airport, and his brother Michael was the driver of Kardashian’s rented car in Paris.

In phone calls, suspects complained their cut from the robbery was much less than expected. Forensics confirmed: only a small part of the stolen jewelry’s market value was recovered.

After all the middlemen, robbers usually keep only 10% to 15%. Many pieces have to be melted down or broken into parts and sold piece by piece.

Abbas allegedly received €75,000, others less. They didn’t even try to sell Kardashian’s wedding ring for fear it was too unique and easily traceable. At least, that’s what Old Omar claims. The ring has never been found by police, nor most of the other jewelry.

Only three months later, on January 9, 2017, police made arrests. Seventeen people were detained, 12 of whom were later charged. Police found €16,900 in Old Omar’s fridge. He couldn’t explain its origin. DNA tests showed his traces at the crime scene. Eventually, Old Omar broke down and confessed, claiming he was just a simple executor.

Abbas confessed even earlier. What about the others? They denied guilt until the end. For example, Didier Dubrucq, nicknamed “Blue Eyes,” is suspected of being one of the two men who entered Kardashian’s room. But Dubrucq insists all “evidence” is circumstantial. He spent almost 11 months in pretrial detention and was the first released before sentencing to undergo chemotherapy: he has lung cancer as a heavy smoker. He is now 69.

Abbas spent 22 months in pretrial detention and was released due to heart problems; doctors replaced his valve. Old Omar’s mistress, Christiane Glotin, with whom he hid, is now 79. She was released from pretrial detention due to throat cancer and heart and back problems. Old Omar was the last to be released, in April 2020.

Two suspects were less fortunate. Fence Marso Baum-Gertner, responsible for selling the stolen jewelry, died suddenly on March 6 this year in Paris. Possibly, he couldn’t withstand threats from the mafia who bought Kardashian’s jewels from him; they feared he might talk and inform the police.

And 72-year-old Pierre Bonner, considered the gang’s mastermind, did not attend court: he doesn’t understand what’s happening due to Alzheimer’s disease.

Kardashian Is Safe

After the robbery, Kardashian didn’t post anything about her personal life on social media until January the following year. She didn’t return to Paris until June 2018, when she and Kanye West attended a show of their friend Virgil Abloh’s new collection – the new artistic director of Louis Vuitton’s men’s ready-to-wear line.

“My approach to security is completely different now,” Kardashian admitted. She no longer posts in real time revealing her whereabouts, except when her presence at an event is publicly known in advance. At her California home, four to six guards stand watch at night: “Just so I feel safe.” Naturally, she always has security close by when traveling.

In early May, Kim Kardashian flew to Paris specifically to testify at the hearings. The court examination on May 13 lasted almost five hours. It was a tough ordeal: the star had to stand on high heels almost the entire time. She held up well, yawned once discreetly (jet lag probably), and only asked to sit near the end. The judge immediately ended the session and dismissed the witness.

For some time after the robbery, Kardashian avoided wearing jewelry in photos, and in 2023 admitted she hadn’t bought any new jewelry since then.

But at the Paris trial, the star deliberately appeared wearing a diamond necklace by Samer Halimeh New York, valued at $1.5 million, and other jewels. It seemed a symbolic gesture: Kim Kardashian showed she was no longer afraid to wear expensive baubles that nine years ago made her a robbery victim.

Main photo: Kim Kardashian outside the courthouse. Source: YouTube