Eight members of 'Grandpa Robbers' gang found guilty nearly nine years after $10 million October 2016 theft
Eight members of a criminal organization dubbed "les papys braqueurs"—the "Grandpa robbers"—were convicted on Friday, May 23, 2025, for the October 2016 armed robbery of Kim Kardashian at Hôtel de Pourtalès in central Paris. The verdict, delivered by three judges and six jurors after a monthlong trial, concluded a nearly nine-year investigation into one of Europe's most audacious celebrity crimes.
On the morning of October 3, 2016, during Paris Fashion Week, five masked men forced their way into Kardashian's hotel suite around 3 a.m. Posing as police officers, they handcuffed the hotel concierge and used him as a translator, as the attackers spoke only French. Kardashian, who was packing at the time, was held at gunpoint, bound with duct tape and plastic cable ties, gagged, and dragged by the leg while wearing a bathrobe before being locked in the bathroom.
In her emotional testimony on May 13, 2025, Kardashian described the ordeal as the "most terrifying experience of my life," telling the court she was "absolutely" convinced she would be killed or raped. She traveled to Paris to testify before the judges and jurors, reliving the traumatic night in detail.
Raubüberfall auf Kim Kardashian
Fünf Männer, teils als Polizisten verkleidet, überfallen Kim Kardashian in ihrer Pariser Luxuswohnung während der Modewoche. Sie fesseln sie und stehlen Schmuck im Wert von 9 Millionen Euro.
Festnahmen erfolgen
In den Folgetagen und -wochen nehmen französische Ermittler mehrere Verdächtige fest.
Gerichtsverfahren und Urteile
Fünf Männer werden im Zusammenhang mit dem Überfall verurteilt. Das Gericht verhängt Haftstrafen von bis zu drei Jahren, deutlich unter der Forderung der Staatsanwaltschaft von sechs bis zehn Jahren.
The gang made off with jewelry valued at approximately $10 million, including a 20-carat diamond engagement ring from then-husband Kanye West worth around $4 million. The stolen gems—gold and diamonds—were believed to have been smuggled out of France, broken up, and sold through criminal networks. None of the jewelry has ever been recovered.
Investigators determined the gang had tracked Kardashian through her social media posts, which revealed her jewelry and provided real-time location data through geotagged images and timestamps. This discovery highlighted how digital oversharing had made the high-profile target vulnerable to organized crime.
The breakthrough in the case came through surveillance footage, phone taps, and DNA evidence. The ringleader, 69-year-old Aomar Aït Khedache, was identified through DNA found on plastic ties recovered at the scene, which matched records in France's national database. Notably, Aït Khedache, who is deaf and mute, used a cane and apologized to Kardashian during the trial.
Of the ten accused—nine men and one woman—eight were convicted. Sentences reflected the defendants' advanced ages, the nearly nine years that had passed since the crime, and their generally clean records since 2016. Most sentences were largely suspended, and crucially, none of the convicted individuals were returned to prison, as they had already served substantial time in during the .