Kim Kardashian expected to testify about violent 2016 Paris robbery as alleged ‘Grandpa Gang’ faces trial

By Sandra Gonzalez, CNN

Three of the suspected robbers fled on bicycles and two on foot, carrying between them almost $10 million worth of jewelry, a $4 million ring among the goods.

They had the benefit of the darkness of nighttime Paris, but the street would before sunup be buzzing with activity. Within minutes of their departure, police would descend upon Rue Tronchet, the address of a luxury accommodation where Kim Kardashian had retired earlier that evening after a busy day of Fashion Week events and before her life took a turn for the terrifying — bound and gagged at gunpoint — allegedly at the hands of a group referred to in French news media by monikers like “The Grandpa Gang” and “Grandpa Robbers” (despite one woman being among the accused.)

Like most places in central Paris, Rue Tronchet is full of history, even before it was the site of a high-profile heist. It was once depicted in a work by French painter Antoine Blanchard and is one of the streets that surrounds the iconic Church of Sainte-Marie-Madeleine, a Catholic church dedicated by Louis XV just before the start of the French Revolution.

On the night of the robbery in October 2016, police say the criminals, posing as policemen, entered through two large, unmarked red doors on Rue Tronchet and held the concierge at gunpoint to gain access to the apartment where Kardashian was staying.

If so much of Kardashian’s life to that point nearly a decade ago was the closest a former celebrity assistant could get to a fairytale in the online age — a television show empire, a stable of bustling businesses and a famous musician husband — that night, she was trapped in a nightmare.

Details of the incident, at the time, were prolific, examined and pieced together in intricate detail by media outlets around the world as one of the most visible celebrities of our time went uncharacteristically silent about the ordeal. Her family, some of whom were also in Paris for Fashion Week when the robbery happened, were also mum.

Time, of course, has caused memory of the incident — both the public’s and seemingly Kardashian’s — to fade from prominence. It would likely stay blurred in pop culture past if the group of alleged criminals responsible weren’t finally set to stand trial for the crime in Paris this week.

Of the 12 individuals originally charged in the case, 10 are on trial, beginning Monday. One of the suspects has since died and another, Pierre Bouianere, 80, will have his own trial. He has denied all of the charges and his case is expected to be dismissed for health reasons.

Eight of those on trial have denied the charges, which include armed robbery in an organized gang and criminal conspiracy.

In a statement to CNN, Kardashian’s personal attorney Michael Rhodes confirmed that she is expected to testify. “Ms. Kardashian is preserving her testimony for the Court and jury and does not wish to elaborate further on it at this stage. She has tremendous appreciation and admiration for the French judicial system and has been treated with great respect by the French authorities.”

The case — long delayed due to other high-profile trials, among other reasons — is anything but straightforward, with colorful characters and circumstances that seem out of a movie script.

This, however — like Kardashian’s specialty — is reality.

‘I was there to collect’

The robbers could not have asked for a better blueprint for their heist than Kardashian’s social media trail.

Investigators say one of the accused, Aomar Ait Khedache, who turns 69 this week, admitted to entering Kardashian’s room to steal jewelry, including her diamond ring.

“The evidence gathered during the investigation designates him as the organizer of these acts, even if he contests this,” investigators wrote in court documents.

During interviews with police, Ait Khedache said that everything was laid out perfectly — from her movements around town to the luxury inventory of jewels she carried with her to Paris, according to reporting from Le Monde.

“The case itself was given on the Internet, with everything. The jewelry presented on the Internet, specifying that she was not wearing fake jewelry. That there were no fakes, the times when she came to France … you just had to look on the Internet to know everything, absolutely everything,” he said in a police interview, Le Monde reports.

Indeed, days before the robbery, Kardashian had posted an image showing her massive engagement ring, given to her by her now-ex-husband Kanye West. The ring – like most of the jewelry that was stolen that night – was never recovered by police, with Khedache telling authorities it was in someone’s possession but never resold due to its size and distinct characteristics, reports Le Monde.

The image, which boasts over 1.4 million “likes” today, is still on the reality star’s Instagram page, despite its connection to this dark chapter of her history.

The social media post has now also been entered into evidence and will be part of the trial.

Kardashian’s penchant for showcasing her wealth was criticized prior to the robbery but became a defense of sorts for both the accused thieves and some of her critics who have all but excused the alleged criminals.

In 2017, Khedache’s lawyer at the time, Jean-Yves Liénard, told Le Monde in part, “this case shows the state of decay in which we find ourselves, where a young woman who is nothing, neither an artist nor a writer, becomes a global phenomenon whose slightest mishap obsesses the international press.”

Even in the fresh aftermath of the incident, late former Chanel creative director Karl Lagerfeld was among those who joined the chorus of the critical.

“You cannot display your wealth and then be surprised that some people want to share it with you,” he told international news reporters days after the robbery.

Journalist Patricia Tourancheau provided some context on the backlash.

“In France, it’s still very badly perceived when people flaunt their wealth so much, and what was heavily criticized, for example, is Kim Kardashian’s selfie (with the ring). So they knew she had her jewelry on her, but she’s showing off, and her way of exhibiting her wealth in France is quite insufferable,” she recently told CNN’s Saskya Vandoorne.

Yunice Abbas, who authorities allege was one of the five people who entered the hotel on the night of the heist, has not minced words about his feelings about his involvement. He even wrote a book about the incident called “J’ai séquestré Kim Kardashian,” which translates to “I kidnapped Kim Kardashian.”

“Since she was throwing money away, I was there to collect it, and that was that,” Abbas, now in his early 70s, told Vice in 2022. “Guilty? No, I don’t care. I don’t care.”

Abbas has downplayed the crime and has blamed Kardashian in interviews with multiple media for flaunting her jewelry.

He has promoted his book on French television.

“I have neither contempt nor a desire for revenge,” he told i24 news. “I am very happy for her. I ask her to forgive me. If she can’t, too bad, I will live with it.”

Police say he admitted taking part in the armed robbery, and to unlawful confinement, but denies participating in planning of the caper.

He was released from pre-trial detention in 2022 for health reasons.

Time has also revealed a surprising public reaction to the criminals, Tourancheau explained.

“I think there’s a part of the public that actually feels some sympathy for them,” she said. “They targeted a person, yes, but to steal valuables – money, jewelry – not to cause harm for harm’s sake.”

‘They are just totally going to shoot me’

Kardashian’s first comments about the robbery wouldn’t be made public until a trailer for her reality show was released in January the next year, months after the theft.

In the episode itself, which aired in March 2017, she spoke about the robbery in detail, describing how she thought at the time that she was going to be raped and killed.

“Then (one of the armed men) duct tapes my face, my mouth, to get me to not yell or anything and then he grabs my legs and I wasn’t, I had no clothes on under (my robe) and he pulled me towards him at the front of the bed and I thought, ‘Okay, this is the moment. They are going to rape me.’” Kardashian tearfully recalled. “And I fully mentally prepped myself and then he didn’t, and he duct-taped my legs together.”

She added: “Then they had the gun up to me and I just knew that was the moment they are just totally going to shoot me in the head. I just prayed Kourtney (Kardashian, her elder sister) was going to have a normal life after she sees my dead body on the bed.”

Kardashian cooperated with the authorities on the scene. According to court documents translated from French, she had samples taken from her wrists, hair, and ankles.

DNA evidence, as well as CCTV footage, helped tie some of the accused to the crime, according to the French charging documents.

In the aftermath of the robbery, Kardashian has said she changed her approach to social media, speaking multiple times about her new aversion to posting locations and other sensitive information in real-time.

“I was just really scared of everything,” she told David Letterman of her feelings following the crime, as she recounted how the gun-toting robbers forced her to hand over her $4M engagement ring. “They kept on saying, ‘the ring, the ring,’” she said.

“I can’t sleep at night unless there’s half a dozen security guards at my house, and that has just become my reality.”

She also said the incident changed her priorities.

“I was definitely materialistic before,” she told Ellen DeGeneres in 2017. “Not that there’s anything bad with having things and working to get those things – I’m really proud of everyone around me that’s successful…But I’m not here to show off the way I used to. It’s just not who I am anymore. I just don’t care about that stuff anymore. I really don’t.”

That statement has followed Kardashian in the time since.

In a July 2024 episode of her family’s Hulu reality program, Kardashian and her sister Khloé traveled to India to attend the lavish wedding of Anant Ambani, the son of Asia’s wealthiest man. Their trip full of elaborate costume changes for the multi-day celebration culminated with one evening look that had Kardashian wearing millions of dollars worth of jewels and making a video for social media about it in the car on the way to the event.

The show made light of the hypocrisy, with Kardashian sharing that a family member had sent her a meme that called back to her statements on DeGeneres’ show and juxtaposed them with some of her recent diamond-adorned social media posts.

“Lorraine Schwartz made this for the wedding tonight,” she said at one point as she recorded in the backseat, running her hand against the heavy diamond nose chain crafted by the famed jewelry designer she’d just name-checked. “How insane.”

An apt word, perhaps, for the entire tale itself.

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CNN’s Saskya Vandoorne, Elizabeth Wagmeister and Dan Heching contributed to this report.