New York, 2 February, 9h55. A few minutes earlier, Kim Kardashian had entered the offices of the federal prosecutor, accompanied by her two Parisian lawyers, including the well-known criminal lawyer Jean Veil. The American star faced Armelle Briand, the French investigating judge in charge of the inquiry into the attack and robbery of which she was a victim in Paris in the night of 2 to 3 October 2016 during which she was robbed of almost 9 million dollars worth of jewellery. -

The hearing which then began lasted the whole day and Le Monde has been able to see the transcript.

Kim Kardashian did not wish to return to Paris. She began by stating “I have a feeling that it’s not the right place for me, I mean Paris. It’s not a place for me on the emotional plane”.

She is obviously aware of the arrests which took place in the capital on 9 January. “I felt relieved and very proud of the French legal system” she stated. “All the same, it did not give me a feeling of security and this experience made me aware that the world was no longer a safe place.”

« They knew about my movements »

After having described in detail the people who were accompanying her during her stay in Paris, the star remembered having a premonition before leaving Los Angeles, where she lives, to attend Fashion Week.

“For two weeks before we left we were already afraid we might be victims of a terrorist attack if we left the country, and not only by going to Paris. When Kourtney (her sister) had a passport problem, I thought to myself that something bad was going to happen. I had this foreboding. I want to tell you this because it was such a strong feeling: every night in Paris I said a prayer of thanks that nothing had happened to us”.

She states this because today she is convinced, as she says, that it was a “stitch-up”, probably “based on inside information”?

Speaking to the judge, Kim Kardashian stressed that her suspicions concerned Michaël and his brother, Gary Madar who were part of the team of drivers who chauffeured her, and her husband, the rapper Kanye West, when they came to Paris and who had done so for at least the past four years.

“A few weeks before our arrival, they sent an SMS text message to my assistant, Stéphanie S. offering a free transport service, which they had never done before (…). I found that strange.”

Gary Madar was charged on 12 January with complicity in armed robbery as part of an organized gang, complicity in kidnapping and forcibly confining someone, and with criminal association, but unlike the 9 other people accused in this case he was released under court supervision and remains presumed innocent as do all those examined.

Contacted, his lawyer, Maître Arthur Vercken, did not reply.

« I realised that there was something wrong »

Despite being traumatized by her attack, Kim Kardashian had a very clear memory of events when she then recounted in detail for the French judge.

“At about one thirty in the morning, we came home with Stéphanie (her assistant), Kourtney (her sister) and Pascal (her bodyguard). Simone (another assistant) was already there. Stéphanie and Kourtney changed clothes to go clubbing. After their departure, at about one fifteen, three friends came to persuade me to go clubbing too. (…) I went upstairs, took off my dress and put on a bathrobe and went into bed to look at television on my lap-top and check my e-mails. I was therefore naked under my bathrobe.”

(…)

After her friends had gone clubbing, Kim Kardashian said that she heard people coming up the stairs which led to her room. “They were really making a noise with their feet (…) I thought that my sister and Stéphanie had come home drunk and were making a racket. I said ‘Hello’, I still thought it was them but there was no reply. I understood that there was something wrong (…). Then I saw two guys in police uniform come in with the caretaker. “They were aggressive (…). I thought they were terrorists who had come to kidnap me. Then in a panic she tried to grab one of her telephones but did not succeed. (…) I remember that I had an indescribable feeling, as if my heart would leave my body, I thought that I was going to die.”

Very quickly, the two men said “ring, ring” (…) They were referring to the ring estimated to be worth 4 million dollars which Kim Kardashian was wearing in several of the photos which she herself had posted on social networks.

(…)

« He was really excited when he saw my jewellery »

“When the big guy took the ring, he examined it in the light from the window to check that it was the right ring and he said something in French which I didn’t understand, but you could see he was pleased” (…).

Then, for a moment, at the top of the stairs, she thought of escaping but was afraid they might shoot. One of the men shouted, “Money, money, money” (…); the other, doubtless exasperated by the screams of their victim, took out some very strong black adhesive tape and some plastic electric cables to tie her wrists together.

(..) “I turned towards the caretaker to ask him if we were going to die and to tell them not to kill us (…). The caretaker told me to ‘Shut up’, and be quiet. He said he didn’t know what was going to happen to us and that he also had children and that I should stop talking (…). One of the two attackers began to put the tape over her mouth and tie her wrists together. I was convinced he was going to rape me”.

Later in the hearing she stated that she had not been sexually assaulted.

(…)

“Then he saw my jewel box. (…) He was really excited when he saw my jewellery (…) There were so many things. It was a big box. There were 20 items, everything I owned, 3 watches (…)”. Once the booty had been collected one of the two men carried her into the bathroom. Then they fled by the main entrance.

Downstairs, the two men met three accomplices and left the scene on foot and by bicycle. The police had been alerted and arrived at the hotel in the rue Tronchet (in the 8th arrondissement) which specialises in hosting stars discreetly.

“I remember how frightened I was (…) because they were wearing the same clothes as the others and I wondered whether they were really the police”, she stressed.

Her bodyguard has been fired

Her account confirms the information gathered by the anti-organized crime police squad (BRB). Ten people were charged, of whom three recognised the facts including Aomar Ait Khedache, considered to be one of the organisers of the robbery.

However, he stated that no gun had been displayed and even went as far as saying “There was no violence involved.”

During her hearing, four months after the events, Kim Kardashian stated that today many things have changed for her. “I think that my perception of jewellery now is that I am not as attached to it as I used to be. I don’t have the same feeling about it. In fact, I even think that it has become a bit of a burden to have the responsibility of such expensive jewels (…). There is nothing of sentimental value to compare with the act of going home and finding one’s children and one’s family.”

This is an allusion to the numerous photos which she was in the habit of posting on social networks where it was easy to see that she was wearing very valuable jewellery.

During her hearing, M. Ait Khedache had himself stressed that all the information was on internet. There is another change. Her bodyguard, despite the fact that he was not charged, has been fired. “I realised that people might think that I’m an easy target if he was still in my employment”, she said.

17h30 The hearing ended. The French judge is considering a re-enactment which the American star will be invited to attend. When contacted, her lawyer, Jean Veil, did not reply.

(This article has been translated in english by Kristin Couper)