The gang of seasoned criminals charged in Kim Kardashian jewelry heist

DNA found on the restraints used to tie up Kim Kardashian during her robbery in October led to the arrest of 17 suspects Monday — just the latest twist in a jewelry heist that played out like a Hollywood blockbuster.

The crew of seasoned criminals included one of Kardashian’s chauffeurs in Paris, who cops say may have set her up by feeding information about her location and bodyguards.

Among his alleged accomplices were two women who tailed the reality-TV star in the days before the nearly $10 million robbery at her ritzy rented Parisian pad in during Paris Fashion Week, police said.

Kardashian was held up at gunpoint by five masked men who made off with her jewelry, including a $4.5 million ring that her hubby, Kanye West, gave to her as an anniversary gift.

Authorities are investigating the possibility that the bling was moved to Antwerp, known as the diamond capital of Europe. Belgian police have joined the probe and were checking local ports.

The gang was taken down in coordinated raids launched at about 6 a.m. in and around the City of Light as well as in southern France, reports said.
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The DNA on the restraints busted the case wide open after authorities learned it belonged to a longtime criminal, and he was quickly linked to many of the others, the Guardian reported.

Another thief accidentally dropped part of the haul — a diamond-encrusted cross pendant made by the renowned jewelers Jacob & Co. — on the street during his bicycle getaway, reports said.

His prints were lifted from the pendant, identifying him, too, they said.

“These arrests are a nice surprise because, on the one hand, it will perhaps make it possible to find the jewelry,” Kardashian’s French lawyer, Jean Veil, told The Sun.

“On the other hand, it puts an end to the outrageous speculation by some who thought it was intelligent to pretend that this robbery was staged, or a publicity stunt organized by Ms. Kardashian,” he said, adding that his client was looking forward to “putting her nose up” at everyone who doubted her.

The suspects were 14 men and three women ages 23 to 72, officials said.

According to Veil, the buxom beauty may be interviewed again by investigators to help identify the suspects.

A French judge may even travel to New York to question her and show her video of them, a report said.

“The hope is that she will be able to recognize the men so as to make positive identifications,” an insider told The Mirror.

The suspects included the five people who posed as policemen and broke into Kardashian’s apartment, sealed her mouth with duct tape, bound her wrists and left her tied up in the bathtub Oct. 3 at the chic Hôtel de Pourtalés before swiping jewelry, the French paper Le Monde reported.

One of Kardashian’s Paris chauffeurs may have been in on the heist, sources told Le Monde.

The man works at the limo company that the reality star’s family frequently uses in the French capital and is believed to have been the last person to drive Kardashian on the night she was robbed, the report said.

Several French media outlets reported that the chauffeur is 27 years old and that authorities believe he may have given the thieves sensitive information about her whereabouts during her stay for Paris Fashion Week.

He also reportedly tipped off the others that her bodyguard was absent and gave them details about the Hôtel de Pourtalès.

Another of the suspects was a 60-year-old man who tied her up in a bathroom, Europe 1 reported.

Many of the suspects, who include two diamond dealers, have lengthy rap sheets for crimes including armed robbery, officials said. They can be detained for up to 96 hours before police must either charge them or set them free.

Using evidence from the scene, investigators set up a surveillance operation and discovered a criminal network that stretched to Belgium, the source told Agence-France Presse.

Multiple firearms, including an automatic pistol and other weapons, were recovered as part of the investigation, along with 140,000 euros, about $147,500, in cash, an official said.

Kardashian broke her silence about the crime this weekend, saying she was afraid she was going to be killed by the robbers.

“They’re going to shoot me in the back,” she sobbed to her sisters in a promotional clip for the new season of her TV show, “Keeping Up with the Kardashians.”

“There’s no way out. It makes me so upset to think about it,” she added.

Some argued after the robbery that Kardashian had sealed her own fate with her unabashed social-media presence and her habit of posting her jewels and whereabouts for the whole world to see.

Kardashian has chosen to remain surprisingly quiet since the incident, posting photos of her family after returning to social media only last week.

One source close to the star told The Sun that staying out of the limelight and off social media after the heist did a lot of good for her.

“Taking time off after the robbery has really changed Kim. And for the better,” the source said. “She initially was just too shocked and traumatized to deal with anything but her kids. As time went on, she realized that she actually loved her slower life.

“She feels very grateful that she has been able to spend the past few months just focusing on her kids. Kim thinks they are growing too fast and she has enjoyed spending more quiet time with them.”

Source: Page Six