After a reclusive end to last year, Kim Kardashian has been back in the spotlight to kick off 2017. Perhaps she's felt more at ease since the arrests of many of those involved in the October jewelry robbery that she was a target of while in Paris. Though 10 suspects -- many of them elderly French gangsters -- have been arrested for the incident, police have said that it is unlikely that Kim will see any of the stolen jewelry again.
In fact, much of the jewelry was "melted down" soon after it was taken, said 60-year-old Aomar Ait Khedache, the alleged mastermind of the whole theft, in his police testimony, excerpts of which were published in the French newspaper Le Monde.
"For the jewelry never to be recognized, we made the decision to melt them," said Khedache. “One of the people took care of it.” The melted jewelry was then sold in Antwerp, Belgium, a major European hub for (both legal and illegal) jewelry commerce.
"He came back with bars," said Khedache of the man who melted the jewelry, who returned with over 800 grams of the melted precious metals that were stolen from Kim. For all of that, Khedache and his cohorts allegedly earned somewhere between €25,000 and €28,000. Of course, that amount is but a blip of the value of the jewelry in its original state.
According to the testimony, everything was melted down save for the most expensive piece: Kim's 20-carat emerald cut engagement ring, which is worth an estimated $4 million. Khedache said that the ring is still intact, and he told police that "there is a person who has it," though it does not seem like he offered a name for that person. "Everyone was afraid to sell," he said of the outrageously priced ring, "because it's a stone that's very easily spotted."
Khedache, who is known to his fellow criminals and to police as "Old Omar," is currently being held without bail.
[via People]