THE trial for the “heist of the century” starts today with Kim Kardashian set to come face to face with the “Grandpa robbers” who held her at gunpoint in Paris.
Nine years after the reality star had $10million (£7.5m) worth of jewellery stolen – including her $4million (£3m) engagement ring – the men behind the raid are finally being brought to justice.
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Kim was left pleading for her life during the 2016 robbery after they bound her hands and feet, taped over her mouth – known as sausaging someone in French.
They then carried her to the bathtub wearing only her dressing gown.
She will give evidence in person at the trial and previously said of the raid: “I thought they were terrorists who had come to kidnap me, I thought I was going to die.”
The terrifying ordeal led to the Kardashian family changing how much they share of their lavish lifestyles on social media.
The elderly gang – now in their 60s and 70s – had been inspired by Kim’s flashy posts online showing off her bling and had been allegedly tipped off by a chauffeur that she was alone in her secluded hotel room in the 8th arrondissement during Fashion Week.
It was supposed to be one final job for the veteran robbers who each had a string of convictions.
They claimed to not know who the social media influencer was but instead demanded the concierge take them to “the rapper’s wife”.
One defendant said he only realised the scale of her celebrity when his wife was watching the news about the raid on TV the next morning.
Having pointed a gun at Kim while forcing her to hand over the jewels they made a clumsy escape on foot and by bike, leaving behind a £30,000 diamond necklace in the street, cable ties covered in DNA, and their fingerprints all over the apartment.
Kim Kardashian reveals ex husband made her GIVE BACK engagement ring in split
While they argued about how to split to loot and sell it onto Belgian diamond experts on the terrace of a bistro, top French cops had enlisted the help of the FBI to track them down and had already bugged their phones.
None of the jewels have ever been recovered with many believed to have been melted down and sold in Antwerp.
Her diamond engagement ring from her marriage to Kanye West was believed to be too distinctive to fleece.
Police believe that Kim’s chauffeur’s brother was in on the heist but the burglars argue that everything they needed to carry out the raid was posted online publicly.
Their trial has been delayed by Covid and by a backlog of high profile cases in the French justice system.
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In total 10 people will be tried, five for armed robbery and kidnap charges and the rest for complicity in the heist or possession of a weapon.
One woman is among those charged.
One member Yunice Abbas, 71, is expected to apologise to Kardashian in court having already penned a memoir titled “I kidnapped Kim Kardashian”.
He fled on his bike, spilling the loot on the floor as he fell over in the rush.
What happened to Kim Kardashian?
by Harvey Geh
Kim Kardashian was robbed at gunpoint in Paris, 2016, marking the biggest robbery of an individual in France for more than 20 years.
At the time the reality icon was in the French capital for Paris Fashion Week with her former husband Kanye West – before the rapper returned to the US to pick up his Saint Pablo tour.
Now left in Paris along with her sister Kourtney and various other entourage members, Kardashian stayed in an exclusive set of apartments so secret they are dubbed the No Address Hotel.
The penthouse suite Kardashian was staying in at the chic Hotel de Pourtalès – which is popular with celebrity A-listers – costs an eye-watering £13,000 per night.
On the evening of October 3, after the star had attended a fashion show with her sister, Kardashian decided to stay in the apartment alone while the rest of her crew – including bodyguard Pascal Duvier – went out for the night.
At around 2:30am, three armed men donning ski masks and dressed as police burst into the apartment block and threatened the concierge at gunpoint.
Two of them are alleged to have forced the concierge to take them to the reality icon’s suite – with the worker later telling police that they yelled: “Where’s the rapper’s wife?”
Kardashian said she was “dozing” on her bed at the time, after uploading social media posts telling viewers that she was home alone, which she believes gave the robbers a “window of opportunity”.
The star said the robbers grabbed her, tied her up with plastic cables and taped her mouth and legs before dropping her in the bathtub.
Before locking her in the bathroom they had held her at gunpoint and demanded specifically for her ring and also money.
Cops said the robbers left the room after seizing the jewels and escaped on bikes – while carrying a haul estimated to be worth about $10million including a $4million 18.88-carat diamond engagement ring from West.
Kardashian said she then managed to free herself from the restraints and rushed to help.
Marceau Baum-Gertner – nicknamed Rough Diamond – died aged 72 just days before the trial was due to start.
Aomar Ait Khedache – known as Old Omar – has written a letter to Kim from jail apologising for the trauma he caused.
Most of the ageing defendants are now on bail but are expected to receive lengthy jail sentences if found guilty.
The trial, in front of three judges and six jurors, will start at the Palais de Justice in Paris on Monday afternoon (1.30pm UK time).
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