Two days after French police made the sweeping arrest, many details regarding some of the 17 suspects potentially involved in the Paris robbery of Kim Kardashian have been revealed. Police reportedly have arrested all five men who were present for the violent theft during the early hours of Oct. 3, when they, wearing masks as well as police disguises, broke into the private residence Kim was staying at, bound and gagged her, and robbed her of about $10 million in jewelry. It so happens that all of the thieves are elderly, the youngest being 54, and some of them are reportedly well known career criminals in France.
Let's start with the alleged mastermind of the gang: 72-year-old Pierre B., nicknamed "Pierrot" as well as "Mr. Big." His fingerprints were found on the tape that was used to gag Kim during the robbery, police told AFP. Pierre was arrested for cocaine trafficking in 2006, and he has since remained on the radar of French authorities due to his affiliations with gangs in southern France.
The 70-year-old (female) partner of Pierre, Christiane, is also in custody. They were taken from their home in the mountains of Grasse, overlooking the French Riviera.
Then there is Omar le Vieux, aka "Old Omar": a 60-year-old gangster whose fingerprints were found on the plastic ties that were used to bind Kim's Kim's hands when the jewels were stolen. Omar's two sons, ages 23 and 29, are also in custody, reports Le Parisien, though it does not seem that they were part of the break-in.
Another elderly suspect, thought to be in his 60s, is the notorious Didier Dubreucq, otherwise known as "Blue Eyes." In 2003, he was sentenced to eight years in prison for his involvement in a drug smuggling ring that was headed by Saudi Prince Nayef Bin Fawaz al-Shaalan. A large amount (4,400 pounds) of cocaine was found on the prince's private jet, and he was accused of having ties to the Medellin cartel.
This really was a seasoned group. Another veteran criminal involved in the heist is known to authorities as "Nez Râpé," or "Broken Nose." He once led a gang that would dress up as police officers and pull over luxury cars on the highways going from Paris to southern France. The gang would then hold the passengers at gunpoint and rob them of their pricy possessions, including jewelry. Nez Râpé was sentenced to 30 months in jail upon being caught in Dec. 2008.
It is unknown if he was part of the five-man raid, though police have also apprehended a grandad gangster known as Marceau, a 64-year-old gypsy and a known associate of Old Omar's. Marceau was on trial last year for selling stolen jewelry in Antwerp, Belgium, though he managed to get acquitted.
Speaking of Antwerp, that is where police suspect that Kim's jewelry was immediately transferred upon the robbery. The Belgian capital has a famous diamond district in which there is much black market activity. In fact, French police have already told Kim that her diamonds have likely moved well beyond the Antwerp underworld and that the search for them -- specifically a diamond ring worth $4 million -- might be futile. There are also two suspects at large who were recently spotted in Antwerp but have not yet been found.
Police have seized about €300,000 in dirty money from the homes of some of the many suspects, though they have not recovered any of the stolen jewelry, save for a €28,000 diamond pendant that was dropped by one of the thieves when making his getaway. Police say that the DNA found on that necklace was crucial in breaking open the investigation.
As reported earlier this week, two of the suspects were brothers working for the same limo company, which was used by Kim on the night of the robbery and has served the Kardashians during many of their stays in Paris. Yesterday, 40-year-old Michael Madar, the owner of the company and Kim's driver on the night of the crime, was released from his custody, but police still are holding his 27-year-old brother Gary Madar.
Gary is suspected of telling the thieves that Kim was without her bodyguard, Pascal Duvier, on that fateful night. Duvier had been busy giving security to Kourtney at a nightclub when Kim was robbed. He no longer is employed by the Kardashian-West family.
Upon hearing of his brother's potential involvement in the crime, Michael Madar was "speechless," said a source close to the investigation.
The older Madar brother was one of three suspects released yesterday. There are now 14 who remain in custody. Under French law, police are able to keep them until Friday, whereupon they must either be charged or released.
