Man Accused Of Robbing Kim Kardashian Says He 'Needed The Money'

A man accused of robbing Kim Kardashian claims he 'needed the money'.

Yunice Abbas was one of 12 people arrested in connection with the theft of around £7.8 million (€9m /$10.8m) of Kardashian's jewels in Paris in 2016.

Abbas is still awaiting trial, which prosecutors hope to begin this year, but the 67-year-old clearly has no plans to contest the charges, as he has released a book entitled J'ai Séquestré Kim Kardashian ['I Kidnapped Kim Kardashian'].

The self-proclaimed 'part-time crook' has spent his life in and out of jail and had been 'clean' for nine years prior the Kardashian heist, which was offered at a time when he 'needed the money'.

Speaking to AFP, as per France 24, Abbas said: "It went fast - maybe five, six, seven minutes - from entry to exit, because everything went smoothly. Nobody interfered, the victim handed over the jewels without resistance.

"I was shutting the door and they [police on patrol] looked at me, so I gave a little sign, like a salute.

"They were just on one of their rounds, but obviously I was nervous. I looked calm, or at least I tried to, and it worked."

Kardashian was held at gunpoint and tied up during the robbery, and most of the jewels still haven't been found, except a diamond-encrusted cross that Abbas dropped while fleeing the scene.

The robber also claims in his book that Kardashian and her secretary repeatedly tried to dial 911 during the robbery, despite the fact they were in Paris, with Kardashian 'complying' once she realised the thieves weren't 'threatening her life'.

Abbas is now hoping for a lenient sentence, having recently undergone heart surgery.

He said: "My fear is returning to prison, my health is no longer good.

"If you have an attack, you might have to wait hours before they can do anything, with catastrophic results."

Another robber involved in the heist, Aomar Ait Khedache, said Kardashian's social media posts made it easy to execute the theft, according to Le Monde.

"The jewels were shown on the internet, and [she said] that she didn't wear fakes," he said in a police report obtained by the newspaper.

"The time she would arrive in France, you just had to look at the internet and you knew everything, absolutely everything."

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: World News, Kim Kardashian, crime, France

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey