Kim Kardashian Jewels Stolen In Paris Heist Have Been Melted, Re-Cut: The Only Piece Left Is Her $4.5 Million Engagement Ring

A transcript of police interrogation of the leader of the gang in the Kim Kardashian Paris jewelry heist leaked to the French newspaper Le Monde suggests that Kim Kardashian is “unlikely to get back” most of the cache of jewels worth more than $10 million stolen from her in Paris because the robbers melted down or re-cut them before selling them off.

Officers who interrogated the alleged gang boss, Aomar Ait Khedache, in police custody, learned that shortly after the heist, the gang melted the metals and re-cut the stones to make them unrecognizable before selling them off on the black market. The metals were melted down and transformed into bars while the stones were re-cut to change their appearance and remove distinctive markings.

“So that the jewels wouldn’t be recognized, we took a joint decision to melt them down,” Khedache said, according to the Daily Mail. “One of us took care of that… He came back with bars… altogether there must have been a bit more than 800 grams.”

“They separate the stone from the metal,,, melt the metal, and [re-cut] the stones completely, in order to remove all markings or modify the shape,” said Jerome Guillochon, the president of a French jewelers federation, explaining how criminals process their loot to make then unrecognizable, according to the Sun.

According to Guillochon, crooks use sophisticated equipment such as lasers to alter the appearance of jewelry. The altered product could then be disposed off in the black market safely.

But the 36-year-old Keeping Up With the Kardashians reality TV star may still get back her $4.5 million diamond engagement ring that her husband rapper Kanye West gave to her. Khedache told police interrogators that he kept the ring because he was afraid to offer it on the market because it was distinctive and easily recognizable.

“We are all afraid to sell it because it is a stone that’s very easy to identify.”

Most of Kim’s stolen jewelry had distinctive markings and design that made them easily recognizable. Her ring, for instance, had the name of Adidas, the international sportswear company.

Police investigators have so far arrested nine men and a woman in connection with the daring heist at Kim’s luxury apartment in central Paris.

Kim was sleeping alone in her apartment when the robbers broke in. They woke her up, tied her up and placed her inside her bathtub after they had forced her to show them where she kept her jewels. Kim was in a state of profound shock when police interviewed her about the incident on October 3, two hours after the robbers had escaped.

“I was in a bathrobe, naked underneath. We then went back to the bedroom and they pushed me onto the bed.”

Police investigators confirmed during interrogation that the men who broke into Kim’s Paris apartment at about 2:35 a.m. on October 3 were 60-year-old Aomar Ait Khedache, nicknamed “Omar le Vieux” (“Old Omar”) and 61-year-old Didier Dubreucq, nicknamed “Blue Eyes.”

“Both men were hooded, one had a ski mask and he had a cap and a jacket with ‘Police’ on it,” Kim told investigators. “The second man had the same ‘Police’ clothes, but did not have any ski mask.”

They asked her where she kept her diamond engagement ring. When she did not reply, one of the men took out a gun. Terrified, Kim showed them the ring.

“He had gloves. He asked me where the jewels and the money were. He grabbed me and took me out to the entry hall. I was in a bathrobe, naked underneath.”

After she had showed them where she kept the ring they tied her up using plastic cables. They then taped her mouth and legs, took her to her bathroom and dumped her inside the bathtub.

But Khedache insisted during interrogation that his gang treated Kim gently.

“We didn’t take our weapons out in front of a woman. The person with me tied her up on the bed… I placed her in the bath.”

Kim listed the jewelry that the men took away. She estimated the value of the jewels at about $5 million, but it was later confirmed that it was a massive haul worth more than $10 million.

“Two Cartier diamond bracelets, a Jacob necklace in gold inlaid with diamonds, earrings with diamonds by Loraine Schwarz, and others by Yanina… three gold necklaces by Jacob, little bracelets, jewels, rings. A necklace by Loraine Schwarz with diamonds, another little necklace with six diamonds underneath… a diamond necklace with the name of my son Saint on it… a Jacob diamond cross… two rings in yellow gold.”

Other members of the gang in police custody include Aomar Khedache’s 70-year-old girlfriend Christaine. Khedache’s 27-year-old son Harminy and Yunice Abas, 63.

[Featured Image by Josiah Kamau/Getty Images]