“This is all happening very quickly… too fast.
There are guns everywhere and you end up walking down the street.
Elie C., a fellow dressed in a suit and a shirt crossed out with a tie, was the driver of the van of the prince of Saudi Arabia, Abdulaziz Bin Farad Al Saud, held up in August 2014 in Paris.
Since Tuesday morning, seven men, aged 32 to 56 and suspected of having participated in this coup, appear before the Assize Court of Paris.
On August 17, 2014, the Mercedes van was heading towards Le Bourget airport (Seine-Saint-Denis) where the prince had to take off for Spain after having stayed for about three weeks at the Georges-V hotel on the Champs-Élysées.
When the dignitary comes to France, he is accompanied by a delegation of 110 people.
And the return convoy is eleven limousines and trucks.
But his personal belongings, his money and his medicines, must precede him to be loaded on his jet before his arrival.
"Like that, explains Elie, when he gets on his plane, we close the door and he takes off without waiting."
"If these men needed this money, they had only to ask him and he would have given them"
On the day of the incident, the loading of the Mercedes was delayed and the Viano went through the Etoile underground to get ahead of the other cars. It enters the northern ring road before exiting on the A1 slip road. He was then caught in a pincer movement by a BMW X5 and a 3 Series. Six men came out hooded and armed. “I said:
We got screwed.
I didn't know if they were real weapons. I did not know what to do. Leave the car to them? Throw the keys away? Then one of them screamed, cocked his pistol and put the barrel on my neck. I felt it was heavy. Then he pointed his gun at my heart. I said, it's okay, you take the car and the three of us got out. The thieves set off in a convoy in the direction of Roissy while Elie and his unfortunate comrades take a taxi to Le Bourget before reporting the theft to the police. The damage, which has never been established with precision, could reach around 700,000 euros.
Seven years later, this man, at the head with his brother of a company which employs more than 400 VTC drivers specializing in the conduct of the Saudi royal family around the world, has again come up against the robbers. "If they did, justice must be very harsh because the visits of Prince Abdulaziz Bin Farad allow at least 200 families to live in France, not to mention all the businesses that prosper thanks to his purchases and those of many people accompanying him. He is a nice, well-mannered and polite gentleman. If these men needed this money, they had only to ask him and he would have given them ”. Only one of the seven defendants admitted to participating in the attack. All the others deny the charges weighing on them. Next week,the word will be given to them and the verdict is expected on May 21.
