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"The ring, the ring!" : where did Kim Kardashian's diamond go, stolen in Paris?

2021-02-19T07:04:20.306Z


THE PARISIAN WEEKEND. The jewels stolen from the reality star in Paris in 2016, including a ring worth 3.3 million euros, were not


The last time she was seen was on October 3, 2016, around 3 a.m.

At number 7 rue Tronchet, just behind the Madeleine church, in Paris (8th district).

“She” is Kim Kardashian's ring, offered by her husband, rapper Kanye West, at the time when the American couple was showing their happiness to the front pages of magazines around the world.

A unique jewel, in diamond and platinum, bought for 4 million dollars, or 3.3 million euros.

As large as a stamp - 13.9 by 19 millimeters, and 7 thick - the stone weighs 18.88 carats.

What to compete with the mysterious Youkounkoun of the film "Le Corniaud".

This ring was stolen from the luxury No Address residence, where the reality TV star stayed for Fashion Week.

That night, in the bedroom, two hooded and gloved men drag the American out of her bed.

A small chrome pistol in hand, they frantically ask him: "The ring, the ring!"

"With a" French accent ", the victim will say.

To make sure she understands, they show her their fingers.

Kim then points to the bedside table on which she placed the jewel while lying down.

The smaller of the two burglars grabs it, satisfied.

"That's good," he says before handing it over to his accomplice, who slips it into a pocket.

Since then, nothing.

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Four years later, while the investigation is completed and the Paris prosecutor's office requested, last June, the referral to the assizes of eleven people, the ring has not been found.

Has it been sold, cut back, destroyed, lost, hidden?

This jewel, exceptional for its size, is also exceptional for its purity and transparency: it is classified IIa.

Only 1% to 2% of natural diamonds exhibit such qualities.

The solitaire is signed LS, for Lorraine Schwartz, a diva of fine jewelry.

On 5th Avenue, in Manhattan, in the "Diamond District" of New York, its offices do not have a plaque on the street.

Everything takes place on the upper floors, in cozy lounges.

A discreet suite is reserved for the most confidential transactions.

But Lorraine Schwartz does not hesitate to come to her home to show her creations, even in rap recording studios, of which she has become a regular.

The ring is exceptional for its size, purity and transparency.

Only 1% to 2% of natural diamonds exhibit such qualities.

Slaven Vlasic / Getty  

This 50-year-old represents the third generation of a family of jewelers.

She started in the 1990s, seducing people like Barbra Streisand.

Her website sets the tone: “At the origin of some of the most iconic jewelry moments of the 21st century, Lorraine Schwartz […] whose creations adorn some of the most influential people in the world - royal families, icons of the world. 'industry, top-notch celebrities… ”Simply put.

The New Yorker has especially taken off by lending jewelry for ceremonies such as the Academy Awards, which has earned her to be described as the "official jeweler of the stars".

Besides Kim Kardashian, she has drawn the favors of Beyoncé, Angelina Jolie, Lady Gaga, but also Pharrell Williams, Puff Daddy and, once, David Bowie.

His style ?

Shiny and colorful stones, a “fancy luxury”, says Vogue magazine.

"Nez Râpé" and "Vieux" are seen in Antwerp, near the diamond district

Kim Kardashian's loner has been seen by tens of thousands in one of his countless selfies.

Three days before her assault, the American posted a photo of her hands on social networks, the jewel in evidence.

Very recklessly.

This impressive diamond has become the main objective of the “grandpa robbers”, a gang of five senior thugs, the oldest of which is 72 years old.

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In addition to the ring, they won a jewelry box for a total loot of nine million euros.

A meticulously prepared operation, according to the Banditry Repression Brigade (BRB), which notes in its report: "Conducted by a determined group and probably informed about its location and its situation at the time of the facts [...], assured of putting at least with their hand on the famous ring […] exhibited by Ms. Kardashian during her public outings, the criminals were considering an original procedure, partly by bicycle, in order to sow doubt on the direction of their flight.

"An" absurdity "episode, which ends with the fall of one of them, and the" loss "of a cross decorated with diamonds.

Three months after the theft, the suspects, French, are arrested and indicted.

Among them, a key figure: Marceau Baumgertner, 67 years old, alias "Nez Râpé".

A very good receiver, says a policeman.

The man is renowned for his ability to sell jewelry quickly.

He went to Belgium eight times after the fact, including two in the company of Aomar Ait-Kheddache, alias the "Old Man", suspected of being the mastermind of the robbery.

He would have moaned because the jewelry was slow to be resold.

Today, he claims to have only sold gold, while a mysterious "sponsor" would have been responsible for reselling the precious stones.

He claims to have received 75,000 euros, for 800 grams of gold.

Without convincing.

Marceau Baumgertner, alias "Nez râpé", is the alleged receiver, who would have been responsible for reselling the stolen jewelry.

DR  

A few weeks earlier, on December 8, 2016, Aomar and his partner Cathy were seen with “Nez Râpé” in a shopping mall near the diamond district in Antwerp.

They find a band of individuals with troubled activities in a storefront jewelry store.

Among them, an Israeli diamond dealer, Michael G. - already appeared during a BRB investigation after a robbery at Place Vendôme -, and four Georgians: Nathalie, Michael's wife, Zurab, who manages the jewelry store in question, Goga K., employed in another Antwerp jewelry store, and Raphaël, owner of a third.

They are joined by Shah, a Belgian of Indian origin, a diamond trader, who will say that he simply stopped by "for a coffee".

All these little people have ties to the Georgian "milieu", and some are known to be stolen.

Thus, Shah found himself on the radar of the Belgian services for a case of stolen diamonds of great value, in which Michael's father was also involved.

Two other diamonds, declared stolen in Paris, have been found in the United States

Did these receivers buy back Kim Kardashian's “Youkounkoun” that day?

Possible.

Belgian police officers observe in any case "a lot of unusual movements" in the shopping center.

On closer inspection, one of the Georgians served as "scout and watchman."

The report concludes: “These agitated movements seem too suspicious to us to be mere coincidence.

"For the BRB, this meeting" of four hours in a jewelry store that does not belong to Michael G. or to Goga K. - while they are themselves jewelers a few meters away, in the presence of these latest and other neighborhood jewelers ”- is curious to say the least.

All the suspects were heard in September 2018 at the offices of the Federal PJ in Antwerp.

Michael G. responds with monosyllables.

And repeats to the investigators, in loop: "I do not remember" or "I do not know".

Like him, his colleagues deny having participated in a meeting to buy stolen jewelry, especially those of Kim Kardashian.

Zurab, seen shaking hands with French suspects - Marceau Baumgertner, Aomar Ait-Kheddache and his companion Cathy - explains, without laughing, "that he regularly tries, through this feigned kindness, to attract possible customers in his shop ”.

Michael's wife, Nathalie, filmed carrying small bags to the jewelry store, does not disassemble.

She brought "food" to her friend Zurab…

But the Belgian judicial police are convinced: these comings and goings of December 8 are the sign that "several diamond dealers have come together to finance the buyback of the jewels resulting from the theft of Kim Kardashian".

None of them having enough money to acquire the merchandise on their own, they would have contributed, each then receiving a commission corresponding to its contribution in the redemption of the jewelry stolen during the resale, or interest at "high rate. For advancing money.

Filmed by a surveillance camera, Zurab (right), a member of the Georgian “milieu”, manages the jewelry store where the sale of the ring is said to have been negotiated.

DR  

Another clue that corroborates the thesis of the police: several of the Georgian diamond dealers present in the shopping mall went to a neighboring building which, extraordinary coincidence, houses a jewelry store where a certain R., another Georgian, considered by the Belgians, is employed. as "the head of criminal activities linked to the diamond district of Antwerp".

The premises of those present in the Zurab shop were therefore searched.

In Shah's office, investigators get their hands on a safe that contains 17 0.5-carat diamonds, without an invoice.

Asked about their origin, the man is nervous.

There is also a sub-safe there to which the diamond dealer says he does not have the key.

The police placed it under seal and returned the following afternoon to open it.

Disappointment: the small chest only contains documents of no interest and… sacred ground from a Hindu temple.

PODCAST.

The Amazing Heist of Kim Kardashian (Part 1)

The neighboring office of Shah's son was raided in the process.

A little late: the police find a chest containing a large stone, but which does not correspond "in any way" to Kim Kardashian's solitary.

The statements of the "Old Man", of Cathy and of "Nez Râpé", the three French suspects, do not convince the investigators either.

The BRB has made up its mind.

That day, in Belgium, the “final negotiations” took place around the stolen jewelry.

There remains an evanescent American track.

Two earring diamonds, declared stolen in Paris, seem to have been found in the United States, exchanged in a jewelry store in Beverly Hills, California.

But they could just as easily have been stolen a month later, in November 2016, from Kim Kardashian's home in Los Angeles, during another burglary.

Because the starlet is no longer certain of having taken them with her to Paris, as she has so many precious stones.

PODCAST.

Kim Kardashian's Incredible Heist (Part 2)

The fact remains that these two events transformed the American.

As she confided to the French examining magistrate who came to question her in New York, her perception of jewelry is no longer the same.

“I don't want it anymore like before […] In fact, I find that it has even become like a burden, to have the responsibility to carry such expensive ones.

"Even if some of those stolen from Paris" had a real sentimental value ".

His "Youkounkoun" remains untraceable.

Source: leparis

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