Paris’s police chief had never heard of Kim Kardashian West when she was robbed and has now criticised the reality television star for flaunting her wealth on social media.
Christian Sainte was first alerted to the high profile crime shortly after 3am on October 3 when the telephone rang at his home. The night officer told him a woman called Kim Kardashian West had been the victim of an armed robbery.
Sainte told Vanity Fair: “I asked ‘Who is this victim?’”
The night officer had not heard of her either and was unable to tell him. So Sainte got up from bed and went to his computer to search the name on the internet.
“I quickly understood who she is,” he said. “And now I know almost everything about her. The personality of the victim, Kim Kardashian, is not like anyone else. She has a lot of likes on Facebook.”
The robbery took place three weeks ago at the Hotel de Pourtales, a 19th century neo-Renaissance town mansion, where stars stay for reasons of privacy, and where there was little security.
Kardashian West, who is married to Kanye West, the rapper, was bound and gagged by an armed gang who stole millions of dollars worth of jewellery. In previous days she had posted a series of photographs to her tens of millions of followers on social media showing her in Paris wearing expensive jewels.
In one image she had a 20-carat diamond ring worth around $4 million (Dh14.68 million) on her finger.
Asked if he believed the gang had been following her on social media the police chief told Vanity Fair: “She’s giving information on social media all the time.” He added: “We can say that there is a professional team that committed this crime and they seem to be organised.”
The chief would not say whether any suspects had yet been identified. He is “confident” of catching the gang amid fears the robbery could harm tourism. He said: “It’s important because of the implication, is Paris secure?”
