One of the suspects on trial for the armed robbery of Kim Kardashian during Paris Fashion Week in 2016 has publicly admitted to his involvement in the crime and is now saying he regrets the trauma it caused.
“I regret it, not because I got caught, but because … there was a trauma,” Yunice Abbas, 71, testified in court on Tuesday, April 29, per NBC News.
Abbas co-authored the 2021 book I Kidnapped Kim Kardashian, in which he identified himself as one of the robbers behind the heist.
Since then, Abbas has testified that he had no role in choosing the title of the book, which he claims misrepresents his actions. He claims he wasn’t in the reality star’s hotel room at the No Address hotel in Paris and instead kept watch in another area, NBC reported.
According to the Associated Press, Abbas’ book revenue is suspended pending the result of the trial.
Abbas is one of 10 people on trial facing charges in connection with the heist, which resulted in Kardashian being held at gunpoint and tied up as five masked men robbed her of jewelry worth nearly $9 million in October 2016, according to the New York Times.
A source close to the reality star told PEOPLE in 2016 that she managed to escape after wriggling her hands out of the zip ties. A second source told PEOPLE that Kardashian then “screamed from the balcony” for help.
Kardashian has said the robbers took two diamond Cartier bracelets, a gold and diamond Jacob necklace, Lorraine Schwartz diamond earrings, a gold Rolex and other items during the heist, according to French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche. A $4 million ring gifted to her by then-husband Kanye West was also among the items stolen.
According to the Times, most of the stolen jewelry has never been recovered.
French police initially arrested 17 suspects across France in connection with the armed robbery in January 2017. Half of the 10 suspects currently on trial are considered alleged accomplices. One of the men indicted by prosecutors is the younger brother of Kardashian’s Paris chauffeur.
The group has been dubbed the “Grandpa robbers” by French media due to their older ages and previous criminal history, according to ABC News.
In court on Tuesday, Abbas also spoke about his time behind bars for crimes including a previous armed robbery in Belgium, according to NBC News. The outlet reported that Abbas further claimed he turned to theft due to bad influences and to provide for his children.
Kardashian, 44, is expected to testify in person at the trial, PEOPLE learned last month. She previously said she believed the perpetrators tracked her via social media.
“I was Snapchatting that I was home and that everyone was going out,” she explained in a 2017 episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians. “So I think they knew Pascal [her bodyguard] was out with Kourtney and that I was there by myself.”
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