Kim Kardashian’s Robber Isn’t Sorry: ‘She Was Throwing Money Away’
One of Kim Kardashian’s Parisian robbers from 2016 is revealing information about the planning of the crime and insisted that he feels no guilt, despite leaving Kim “traumatized.”
Yunis Abbas, along with eleven men in their 60s and 70s (dubbed “the grandpa robbers”) planned the burglary two years prior, using Kardashian’s social media pages to organize the heist in its entirety. French police said that Kardashian’s use of Snapchat may have alerted the robbers to the jewelry that she had with her in Paris, as well as the fact that she was in the hotel room alone.
Abbas, now 67, spent 22 months in prison before he was granted early release on “health grounds.” In a new interview with Vice News, he revealed some background information about the planning of the heist and insisted that he feels no guilt despite leaving Kardashian “traumatized.”
“I went on the internet and it’s true, I saw her jewelry, I saw her ring, I saw that she showed it everywhere,” he said. “We knew this information through social media. We knew that she was coming for Fashion Week, so we went there to do some reconnaissance so we were sure.”
He revisited the hotel with Vice and explained how the night unfolded. “We got in through the little door that was open on the inside. As soon as we got in we took control of the concierge,” he said. “We overpowered him. We tied him up. But then we looked for the keys for the bedroom she stayed in. I stayed downstairs, but two of my colleagues went upstairs with the concierge to go to Ms. Kardashian’s room. Then they picked up the jewelry. They went downstairs.”
After the attack, Yunis revealed that Kardashian’s assistant had made the mistake of phoning 911, which isn’t the same number for emergencies in France. Police weren’t notified immediately because of this, so the intruders had time to escape. “Ms. Kardashian’s secretary called for help but she called 911 in the United States,” he said. “Which made them lose a lot of time and when we got out there was a bunch of police outside who didn’t know anything about the robbery.”
Police were able to catch Abbas, as he left his DNA behind when he overpowered the guard. Since he already had a criminal record, it was “very easy” for police to trace him. Later in the interview, Abbas admitted that he didn’t know who Kardashian was when he and the other men first started planning the robbery but was aware of her then-husband, Kanye West. As he began to look into Kardashian more online, Abbas was able to determine just how wealthy she is and how easy of a target she was.
“I saw one of her shows where she threw her diamond in the pool, in that episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians. I thought, ‘She’s got a lot of money. This lady doesn’t care at all,'” he said. When asked if he felt guilty about the robbery, Abbas replied, “Since she was throwing money away, I was there to collect it and that was that. Guilty? No, I don’t care. I don’t care.” He did admit that the robbery undoubtedly caused lasting effects on Kardashian saying, “Of course she must have been traumatized. I don’t doubt it.”
Due to Kardashian being “provocative” with her wealth online, Abbas suggested that is why the heist happened. He offered a word of advice to other celebrities and influencers alike on how to avoid being targeted in the future. “They should be a little less showy toward people who can’t afford it,” he said.”For some people, it’s provocative.”
Watch the interview below:
Following the aftermath of the robbery, Kim’s approach to posting on social media in real-time has changed, as well as not keeping anything of value in her home. Kim told Ellen DeGeneres in 2017, “I was definitely materialistic before, and not that there’s anything bad with having things and working hard to get those things. But I’m so happy that my kids get this me, and that this is who I am raising my kids as. I just don’t care about that stuff anymore. I don’t care to show off the way that I used to.”
