At the Paris trial of 10 individuals accused of the 2016 armed robbery of United States reality star, Kim Kardashian, one of the defendants, Yunice Abbas, expressed deep remorse for his role in the heist, while another co-accused firmly denied any connection to the crime.
Abbas, 71, told the court he acted as a lookout from a hotel lobby while others entered Kardashian’s room on the night of October 2–3, 2016, tied her up, and escaped with approximately $10 million worth of jewelry.
Despite later publishing a 2021 book titled “I Kidnapped Kim Kardashian” detailing his version of the events, Abbas appeared conflicted in court when questioned about his actions.
Sitting in the dock, Abbas shook his head in discomfort as the presiding judge questioned him about statements made in the book. “It makes me very uneasy,” he said, adding that he “totally regretted” taking part in the theft.
Abbas recounted arriving at the scene by bicycle and fleeing the same way, at one point dropping a bag of stolen items. He recovered the bag but left behind a diamond necklace—the only item police were able to recover. He described the Kardashian robbery as the job that “opened his eyes” and admitted it was “too many.”
Now diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, Abbas kept his right hand over his left on his chest during the hearing, explaining it helped calm his anxiety. The judge also reviewed Abbas’s criminal history, listing past convictions including armed robbery, use of fake license plates, and modifying vehicles to transport drugs.
Another defendant, Didier Dubreucq, arrived in court in the afternoon following a chemotherapy session. He has cancer and is currently undergoing treatment. Dubreucq, 69, denied any involvement in the robbery and said he had turned his life around after becoming a father at 50. In response to the court president David De Pas asking, “Does it bother you if I say that back then you were a robber?” Dubreucq replied, “I’m a good guy,” and dismissed claims that he was a “thug.”
Despite distancing himself from the robbery, he admitted Kardashian had unintentionally disrupted his life. “Karda-bothersome,” he said with a piercing look that echoed his underworld nickname, “Blue Eyes.”
Earlier, Abbas had told the court that he had experienced “moments of weakness” when he needed money. “I fell back on things that I thought were easy shortcuts but only ended up complicating my life,” he said. Between prison stints, he worked as a car mechanic, occasionally reopening closed workshops.
Currently not in custody, Abbas shared that a neighbor had joked the night before that the court seemed to have already freed him. When asked by his lawyer if he was prepared to face consequences if convicted, he replied, “You’re never ready. But of course, there’ll be a price to pay.”
Kim Kardashian, 44, is expected to testify on May 13, marking a pivotal moment in the ongoing trial. The accused — nine men and one woman — are mostly in their 60s and 70s and include individuals with criminal pasts and aliases like “Old Omar” and “Blue Eyes.”
However, Henri de Beauregard, the lawyer representing the hotel night receptionist who was forced to guide the robbers to Kardashian’s room, cautioned against romanticizing the defendants. He warned the public not to be swayed by the image of “kind old men,” saying, “We must not fall for the myth of friendly, Robin Hood-style pensioners.”
