A suspect in the armed robbery by reality TV star Kim Kardashian said he was shot and robbed for nearly nine years of “trauma” during Paris Fashion Week in October 2016.
The robbery is considered the biggest robbery against an individual who has seen in decades in Paris. A jury of six citizens will be tried with three magistrate judges – France's process reserved for the worst offences.
Defendant Yunice Abbas said it was the first time he had truly realized that he had caused the “trauma” of Kardashian, as the trial began Tuesday in a lawsuit against 10 people related to the 2016 robbery, where more than $10 million worth of jewelry were stolen.
“I'm sorry, not because I was caught, but because…trauma happened,” Abbas, 72, told the jury.
The defendant Yunice Abbas began the 2016 trial of robbery and kidnapping of American celebrity Kim Kardashian in Assize Court of Paris on April 28, 2025.
Magali Cohen/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images
Abbas is the first of several defendants to testify at the trial, having previously admitted his role in crime in his 2021 book titled I kidnapped Kim KardashianAppears during testimony.
According to NBC News, he claimed he was not responsible for the title of the book, saying he was not involved in the Kardashian during the robbery.
Abbas said he acted as a surveillance in the reception area on the ground floor to ensure the escape route is clear. He said he was not armed and did not personally threaten Kardashian, but admitted he was responsible for the crime.
He was arrested in January 2017 and was released under judicial supervision for 21 months. Abbas and nine were allegedly called “Grandpa Robbers” in local media, allegedly playing different roles in the robbery.
According to Abbas, his accomplices fell from Kardashian's apartment and gave him a bag of jewelry minutes after the raid began.
When he fled the scene on his bicycle, he saw a police car, but the police were not aware of the robbery. Abbas said that when he was riding his bike, the bag containing the jewelry was grabbed on the front wheel and he fell to the ground and spilled the bag.
He said, “I picked up the jewelry.”
The next morning, a passerby found a diamond-covered cross on the street and handed it over to the police. That was the only jewelry that robbed from the robbery.
Abbas claimed he did not know Kardashian's identity during the robbery.
“I was told a name to the wife of a rapper. That's all the information I had,” he said. “Until the next morning, when I heard about the influencer on TV. That was when I knew who she was.”
During Tuesday's interrogation, Abbas spoke about his criminal past, including armed robbery at a Belgian bank. He said that when he was young, he opposed theft, but due to the adverse effects of his friends and financial difficulties, he later turned into a crime life because of the crime.
He said he “never had a role model” and did what he thought was needed to provide for his children.
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In the years after the robbery, Abbas said he is now “very upset” about what happened that day, adding: “I have nothing but apologies.”
In an account given to investigators, Kardashian described two men forcing them into the bedroom in a private apartment building in Paris, pointing at her a gun and asking for her ring. She said she was tied together with plastic cables and tape when the intruders were searching for jewelry, including multi-million dollar engagement rings.
Twelve people were initially expected to be in the defendant's box. One person died and the other person was seriously ill and could not try. According to the investigation, 5 out of 10 defendants attended the robbery scene.
Others expected to be tried include the alleged leader, Aomar Aït Khedache, 68; his son Harminy, 37, is accused of evading the driver. Didier Dubreucq, 69, is known as “Blue Eyes”, the second robber in suspected of entering the apartment. Christiane Glotin, 78, is expected to be tried as an accomplice in the robbery.
The sketch of the court was filed on April 28, 2025, showing the robbery and kidnapping of the defendants AOMAR AIT KHEDACHE (C, FRONT), Francois Delaporte (R, UP), Florus Heroui (Second R, UP) and Christiane Glotin (4th t, UP, UP) during the trial of the robbery and kidnapping of Celebity Kim Kardash us Kardash Ats Ass Ass Ass 28 in 2016.
Benoit Peyrucq/AFP via Getty Images
Gary Madar, 35, the driver's brother in Paris, is also expected to be tried. He was accused of pushing others into the Kardashian position.
Defendant Gary Madar was in the trial of the 2016 robbery and kidnapping of American celebrity Kim Kardashian in April 28, 2025 in Paris Court.
Magali Cohen/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images
Kardashian, 44, is expected to testify in person during the trial, which is scheduled to continue on May 23. Her lawyer said she will testify in person and is expected to speak on May 13.
“Ms. Kardashian is retaining her testimony for the courts and juries and does not wish to elaborate further,” they said. “She has a great respect and admiration for the French judicial system and is respected by the French authorities.”
In a reality show with her family, she described being frightened when the robber was gunned at her. She said she thought she would be raped and killed.
March 2017 Keep up with Kardashians, The mother of four believes a group of men followed her family throughout her trip to Paris and admits she was robbing that night, letting her followers know that everyone was out, including her then-Pascal Duvier, who would be alone.
“I think what happened after so much thinking is that there might be a bunch of people following us throughout the journey. I kept laughing at myself for being at home and everyone was out.
“They have this window of opportunity and just work hard for it,” she said.
She explained that she fell asleep in the room when she heard the impact on the stairs. She thought it was her sister Kurtney and assistant Stephanie. She continued to call “Hello” without any response.
“At that time, when there was no answer, my heart started to get very nervous, like your belly was a little like a knot, and you were like, 'Okay, what's wrong?'” “I know something was wrong.”
She told her sister what happened after the armed robbers entered.
“I saw two guys outside the bedroom, five feet away from the police uniform, and took the other guy off. So I slid off the bed and picked up the phone and I thought, ‘I don’t know how to call 911 in another country.’ So I called Pascal and the guy came in, grabbed the phone from me and threw me onto the bed.
She said she recognized the handcuffed concierge and took the keys to her room.
“What I heard from talking to [the concierge] Afterwards, they said, “Where is the rapper's wife? Let's go to her room,” she said.
“He grabbed my legs—I had no clothes there—he pulled me toward him in front of the bed, and I thought, ‘Well, this is the moment he was going to rape me,” the dehydrator said in an interview.
“I was mentally prepared, he didn't. His pipe tied my legs together and they took the gun to me and I knew that was the moment when they were totally going to shoot me.”
Kardashian's attorney Michael Rhodes said reality TV stars and entrepreneurs wanted the trial to be “in an orderly manner under French law and respect all parties to the case.”
– Documents with the Associated Press
