Jewelry

Inside Job Suspected In Kim Kardashian's Parisian Jewelry Robbery - Gothamist

Kim Kardashian at the Balmain show on September 29, 2016 in Paris (Getty Images)

Reality TV star Kim Kardashian reunited with husband Kanye West in New York City yesterday after being held at gunpoint and tied up and gagged in a Paris hotel over the weekend while robbers took about $10 million in jewelry.

According to TMZ, the couple returned to their Manhattan apartment with "a caravan of about 10 vehicles with 15-20 bodyguards watching everything and everyone in the area. NYPD's also on the scene." Among the bodyguards was Pascal Duvier, who had been with Kardashian while in Paris, but was accompanying her sisters Kourtney Kardashian and Kendall Jenner to a nightclub while Kardashian was at the Hôtel de Pourtalès in the 8th arrondisement.

Kardashian and members of her family had been in Paris for Paris Fashion Week. French authorities say early Monday morning, two men stormed into Kardashian's room in a suite, tied and gagged her, and left with her jewelry, including a $4 million ring. The suspects allegedly forced a concierge at gunpoint to lead them to her suite, and Kardashian reportedly "saw at least one masked man and another wearing a police hat through a sliding glass door. She knew something was amiss, so she rolled off the bed and tried dialing her bodyguard on her cell phone." From TMZ:

Before she could finish dialing one of the men yanked the phone out of her hands. They zip tied her hands with plastic handcuffs and duct taped her to make it more secure. We're told one of the men grabbed her by the ankles ... Kim told cops at that point she believed she was about to be raped.

The robbers duct taped her ankles, picked her up and put her in the bathtub. She then started screaming ... begging them not to kill her because she had babies. She went on to say she had money and they could take whatever they wanted.

Kim told cops the robbers did not know English and only spoke French. The only thing she understood ... the men kept saying, "ring, ring." Kim knew what they were after -- the new ring she got from Kanye. She told them where it was in the apartment, but that was not the end.

Kim continued to beg and cry, and at that point the robbers duct taped her mouth shut.
We're told a friend of Kim's -- Simone -- was also in the apartment ... sleeping in the downstairs bedroom. Simone heard the commotion and locked herself in the bathroom and called Pascal, the bodyguard, and Kourtney ... telling them to hurry back because something was terribly wrong.

The two suspects fled with three others. Duvier and police soon followed. After speaking with the police, Kardashian left the country; her spokesperson said she was "badly shaken but physically unharmed."

West found out about the incident during his set at the Meadows Festival on Sunday night; he cut his performance short, saying, "I'm sorry... I'm sorry... family emergency, I have to stop the show." He is reportedly furious about the incident, with a friend telling People, "He feels like she was terrorized. It’s not just that she was robbed; it’s that she was put into a position where she begged for her life, thought she was going to be raped. She was brutalized and manhandled."

The couple's children, North and Saint, were in New York at the time of the robbery; the People source added, "Kim left the kids in NYC because she thought it would be a much better environment for them."

Investigators are examining whether the heist was on some level an inside job, because Kardashian was alone for a such a short period of time. A source told Page Six, "No. Kim 100 percent does not blame [bodyguard] Pascal. Kim put Pascal with Kourtney that night. When she’s home, she doesn’t feel the need to have a security guard outside her door at all times. In Bel Air they have a 24-hour, four-person security detail. Plus state-of-the-art motion sensors and security cameras. So when she’s in her primary residence, she’s got everything; when she’s in New York, she’s got more. But when she’s in Paris, there’s five family members. There’s Kendall, Kourtney, Kris; they’re all doing different things. There’s more people for security to be covering. Kim was in for the night; she was not doing anything."

Earlier on Sunday, while at a Balenciaga show, Kardashian joked how Duvier was always around her:

A Page Six source said of the inside job theory, "[All robbers] had to do was go in, make contact with someone inside the hotel. [The police] have issues with story of more than one worker at the hotel. They are also talking to bodyguards who worked with her earlier in the week.”

Jeanne d'Hauteserre, mayor of the 8th arrondisement, said it was urgent that the robbers were found: "The whole world is talking about this story... because it's Kim Kardashian. The image of Paris will still take a hit."

Deena Aljuhani Abdulaziz, the new editor of Vogue Arabia who is married to Saudi Prince Sultan bin Fahad bin Nasser bin Abdulaziz, agreed with that sentiment, telling the NY Times, "There’s no question in my mind that this will play heavily on the mind of shoppers and travelers from the Gulf when it comes to visiting in Paris. Lots wear their jewelry very openly here. They shop. And have always felt very safe doing so. But when something like this can happen, and to someone with such a good security detail, well — it’s a big surprise. And it’s very frightening."