More surprising than last Monday’s arrest of 17 people suspected of robbing Kim Kardashian in Paris last October is their ages: The key players, French authorities believe, range from 54 to 72 years old.
To the European press, they are “The Pappy Gangsters” or “The Granddad Gangsters.” They have long criminal histories, colorful nicknames and a surprising facility with social media. In a twist reminiscent of a Hollywood crime movie, the Kardashian heist was reportedly meant to be the crew’s last big operation before retirement, and they robbed the reality star of nearly $7 million in jewels. It was a crime, cops say, of remarkable sophistication.
“We would expect the people who carried out a job like this to be criminals with a certain degree of experience,” a police source told the BBC last week. “They would need the connections to be able to dispose of the jewels once they got their hands on them.”
Parisian authorities did not release the full names of most of the suspects, nor mug shots. But they did provide details of gang-member hierarchy, history, and the crime itself. To rewatch surveillance video from the night of the robbery and see figures in baggy pants and hoodies, making their getaways on bicycles, is newly surreal: Underneath those disguises are wizened, cranky old men, trying to speed away.
The mastermind, police believe, is the gang’s oldest: 72-year-old Pierre B., also known as “Pierrot” and “Mr. Big.” Pierre once ran a beach club in St-Tropez, and in 2006 was arrested for trafficking cocaine. He was dragged out of his bed in the South of France in Monday morning’s raid, and his 70-year-old girlfriend, known only as Christiane, was also taken into custody.
Pierre is known as a longtime associate of underworld figure Tony Cossu, known as “The Eel” for his ability to escape.
Omar le Vieux, or “Old Omar,” is a 60-year-old gangster long known to the BRB, or Banditry Repression Brigade, in Paris. Omar’s fingerprints were reportedly found on the zip ties used to bind Kardashian’s wrists. Days after the robbery, he and another gangster known as Marceau B., or “Marceau the Gypsy,” traveled to Antwerp, Belgium, where high-end jewels of dubious origin are easily bought and sold.
Marceau, 64, is known to law enforcement as a longtime associate of Old Omar’s and was tried in 2016 for attempting to sell stolen jewels and counterfeit money in Antwerp. He was acquitted.
Didier Dubreucq, 62, goes by “Blue Eyes” and is believed to have global ties to the drug trade. In 2008, he was sentenced to eight years in prison for working with Saudi Prince Nayef Bin Fawaz al-Shaalan, son of that nation’s founding king, in a massive drug-smuggling operation. After more than 4,000 pounds of cocaine had been found on the prince’s private plane in 1999, Dubreucq was convicted of receiving a shipment in Paris and dealing the drugs throughout Europe. The Saudi prince, who was convicted in absentia and whose whereabouts are unknown, is believed to have ties to the Medellín cartel.
Little is known of Yunice A., 63, although as of last Thursday, he was facing charges of armed robbery, kidnapping and criminal association. Also facing charges Thursday was a 44-year-old known only as Florus H. and Gary Madar, 27, who was Kardashian’s chauffeur the night of the robbery. It’s believed Madar tipped off the gang to her whereabouts.
“Nez Rapé,” or “Broken Nose,” may be the most inventive gang member. He’s known for one of the most terrifying crimes in modern French history: Along with several accomplices, he dressed up as a police officer and pulled over drivers of luxury cars on well-trafficked highways between Paris and the South of France, robbing them at gunpoint of their jewelry. After his arrest in 2008, he was tried and sentenced to 30 months in prison.
Her robbery, known in Paris as a “home-jacking,” is the largest committed against a single individual there in over 20 years.
It was these old men, French police believe, who burst into Kardashian’s luxury hotel room in the early morning hours of Oct. 3, tied her up, taped her mouth, moved her to the bathroom, and threatened to kill her if she didn’t turn over all her valuables. They spent up to 49 minutes in her suite, and as they made their escape, one of them dropped Kardashian’s $33,000 diamond cross in the street.
Parisian police believe none of Kardashian’s other jewels will be recovered, including her $4 million engagement ring from Kanye West, engraved with “Adidas” on the inside of the band. Her robbery, known in Paris as a “home-jacking,” is the largest committed against a single individual there in over 20 years.
Yet in Paris, the media seem more interested in the criminals than the victim, who is not nearly as famous there as she is here. In their coverage, she has been referred to as “the American woman.”
When Paris Police Chief Christian Sainte got the call in the predawn hours of Oct. 3, he had no idea who Kim Kardashian was. Neither did his No. 2, and Sainte told Vanity Fair last year that he had to Google her.
“She has a lot of likes on Facebook!” Sainte said.
As authorities theorized, Kardashian’s robbers had been tracking her every move, posted by Kardashian herself, on social media. Sainte told Vanity Fair that, in the wake of high-level protection of banks and Brinks trucks, home-jackings of the wealthy were on the rise in France.
“It’s quick,” he said. “And you can get a lot of money in a short time.”
What the gangsters did to Kardashian, as terrifying as it is, is so common it has a name: “sauissonnage.”
“They treat you like a sausage, in bondage,” French writer Jean-Baptiste Roques told Vanity Fair. Roques’ sister-in-law had also once been the victim of a home-jacking, and he described a remarkably similar modus operandi, down to how she was targeted.
“They put your family members in different rooms, tie you up, and ask each of you, ‘Where is the safe and what is the code?’ . . . When the gang that robbed my sister-in-law was finally arrested, they told the judge that they targeted their victims thanks to the party pages in French Vogue.”
The night of the robbery, Kardashian was staying at the super-exclusive Hôtel de Pourtalès, in a penthouse apartment that rents for $16,800 a night. She had spent days being followed by Parisian paparazzi. Kardashian also posted close-ups of her jewels, including her 20-carat engagement ring and thin diamond tooth adornments.
Although police couldn’t determine if the thieves knew who she was, let alone followed her on social media, they were sure the robbers were experienced and extremely familiar with Paris.
“This is the first occurrence of a bicycle being used in a major robbery,” Chief Sainte told Vanity Fair — and in order to bike around Paris, one must have extensive knowledge of the city. These robbers clearly knew the side streets, and knew that the side streets had almost no surveillance cameras. As the robbers made their getaway, dispersing on foot and on bicycle, one is seen riding away with a plastic bag swinging from his handlebars.
When a neighbor found Kardashian’s diamond cross on the street the next day, the police theorized that one of the robbers had dropped it after falling off his bike. What they couldn’t know was how prescient that theory was, given that some of their suspects would turn out to be septuagenarians.
As we went to press, the French police announced that they had charged 10 people in connection with the robbery, with six charged just two days ago. Those six include Pierre B., the alleged mastermind, who faces preliminary charges of armed robbery in an organized gang, kidnapping and criminal association. Girlfriend Christiane faces preliminary charges as an accomplice to the crime and for illegal possession of ammunition.
Dubreucq faces the same charges as Pierre B., as well as illegal possession of a Kalashnikov assault rifle. Le Vieux faces the same charges as Pierre B. as well as for illegal possession of ammunition, having false papers and faking his identity.
Two additional suspects were also charged: a 54-year-old known as Francois D., and Harminy A., so far the youngest of the gang at 29 years old.
Kardashian herself has yet to publicly comment, although a close source told “Entertainment Tonight” that she “is deeply relieved to know that this horrible ordeal will all come to an end soon.” On Friday, her sister Khloe called the arrests “rewarding.”
“I don’t care — from the poorest of the poor to the richest of the rich, nobody deserves anything to be taken from them,” Khloe told People magazine. “I think that’s a disgusting act. And I think whenever you get that closure, that has to be a sign of relief for you.”