At the end of April, a trio of defendants known as the “grandpa robbers” will go on trial for allegedly stealing millions of dollars’ worth of jewelry from US reality TV star Kim Kardashian in Paris in 2016.
Masked men stole millions of dollars’ worth of jewelry, including a diamond ring that her then-husband, rapper Kanye West, had given her, from the opulent Parisian hotel where Kardashian was staying in October 2016 in what the French media has dubbed “the heist of the century.”
Michael Rhodes, Kardashian’s US attorney, announced last week that Kardashian will provide an in-person testimony at the trial, which begins on April 28.
Ten people will be in the dock and the verdict is expected on May 23, with Kardashian set to appear on May 13, according to a provisional schedule.
In what has been called the biggest French hold-up targeting an individual in 20 years, Kardashian was robbed of jewellery estimated at 10 million euros ($11.4 million at current rates) while she was staying at a luxury residence during Paris fashion week.
Among the suspects arrested four months later in Paris and in the south of France is Aomar Ait Khedache, known as “Old Omar”, 68, who has admitted to his participation in the heist, but denies the prosecution’s accusation that he was also the ringleader.
Two investigating magistrates ordered the suspects to stand trial by jury — which in France is reserved for the most serious crimes — on charges including armed robbery, kidnapping and membership of a criminal gang.
During Fashion Week on October 2-3, 2016, a group of men, some dressed as police officers, broke into the hotel where the 35-year-old Kardashian was staying.
Before heading back to the hotel at around midnight, the celebrity had gone to a Givenchy show with her sister Kourtney, a socialite and media personality, who had gone clubbing with her bodyguard.
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