What do footballer Thiago Silva, presenter Patrick Sébastien or rapper Booba have in common? All these personalities could have been the target of a single team of burglars, whose trial opens this Wednesday in Paris. Seven men and a woman, aged 27 to 31, are appearing until June 30 for “robberies in meeting” and “criminal conspiracy”.
On the evening of December 23, 2018, shortly after one in the morning, Thiago Silva, then captain of Paris Saint-Germain returned home, in the upscale 16th arrondissement of the capital, after playing a Ligue 1 match against Nantes at the Parc des Princes. Soon, the Brazilian player realizes that his safe, jewelry and watches have vanished. Estimated loss: 1.2 million euros. On the CCTV images of the residence, we see two men climbing a gutter and then entering the mansion through a French window. A few minutes later, they leave on foot, their booty in a backpack and a suitcase stolen on the spot.
Prominent personalities among the victims
Less than a month earlier, another PSG player, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, had already been robbed for around 600,000 euros in leather goods and jewelry, while playing a Champions League match against Liverpool on November 28. 2018. Quickly, the investigators quickly go back to two, then three men. As the spinning and eavesdropping progressed, they identified a group of men in their twenties, from the popular Parisian district of Goutte d’Or, in the 18th arrondissement, as well as two vehicles.
Seven people were finally arrested in August 2019, an eighth in November. After several months of investigations, the investigators believe that they are also linked to other burglaries, including that of Elie Yaffa alias Booba, on December 9, 2018 in Boulogne-Billancourt (Hauts-de-Seine). Two, three or four, depending on the case, they are also suspected of having entered the home of Patrick Sébastien on the night of August 2 to 3, 2019, to the home of chef Jean-Pierre Vigato on August 19 and to the home of ‘a wealthy Saudi the next day. The missing items are valued at 4.2 million euros.
“Agile climber”
Dozens of bracelets, rings, watches and bags – some being counterfeit – are seized in the apartment of a young woman in Aubervilliers (Seine-Saint-Denis), among which the victims will recognize some of their property. At first, the suspects deny en bloc before acknowledging, from mid-2020, their participation in certain facts while refuting their involvement in others, or by affirming that they only had a role of “lookout” “. Some dispute the damage assessment arguing that some jewelry was fake.
For the prosecution, two men are at the center of this series of burglaries, all committed through a window and in the absence of the inhabitants: Mohamed S. nicknamed “Jet Li” or “The Cat” – a pseudonym he contests – described as an “agile climber”, and Abdelazim G. wearing the nickname “Bidou”. The tenant of their “hideout” in Aubervilliers is for her part judged for this last offense as well as for “concealment” and “possession of a weapon”: she denies everything.
Solicited, the defendants’ lawyers did not wish to speak before the trial, or were not reachable.