Kim Kardashian Chauffeur Company Boss RELEASED Without Charge After Arrest over £8.5million Heist in Paris but his BROTHER is still in Custody
The limo company owner arrested by French police investigating the Kim Kardashian multi-million jewel heist has been released – but his brother is still in custody.
Michael Madar and his brother Gary were arrested in a series of raids on Monday morning – among 17 people detained by the police’s organised crime brigade in the Paris area and the south of France.
Madar, 40, is the owner of Unic Worldpass, the chauffeur company used by Kim Kardashian and her family in Paris while his brother Gary, 27, worked for the firm on and off.
Michael Madar was released from police custody in Paris without charges shortly after midnight, a source close to the investigation has confirmed. He was ‘speechless’ to learn that his brother had also been held, the source said.
‘He was speechless when he learned his brother had been arrested,’ the source told MailOnline.
Investigators have been given 96 hours – four days – to interview the suspects.
Meanwhile Kim Kardashian has been warned by authorities in Paris that she will not get her $4million engagement ring back, according to TMZ.
Police have apparently told her legal team that most diamonds the size of Kim’s are immediately shipped off to Antwerp’s diamond district in Belgium and then quickly disappear.
Kim submitted an insurance claim after the robbery listing her 20 carat emerald cut stone diamond ring at $4 million — in total, 13 items totaling $5.6 mil were stolen.
TMZ also reported that Unic Worldpass, the company used by the reality TV star at the time of the robbery in the French capital in October last year, said its founder Mr Madar was only in custody ‘for testimony purposes’.
Friends of Mr Madar had expressed shock at his arrest, while AP said officials in France were ‘unsure’ which brother chauffeured the reality TV star the night she was robbed in a rented apartment in the French capital.
One friend said: ‘This is very strange. Michael is a really sweet guy. I would not be surprised if the police had got this one wrong.’
It is understood that Mr Madar was taken to a police station for interview yesterday morning where he was then arrested.
A friend of Mr Madar said he would never have betrayed Kim, adding: ‘We can’t believe it is him, he is trustworthy.’
Madar found the chauffeur firm – officially known as Unic Worldpass – in 2007.
The company offers VIP service in Paris, London and Los Angeles.
French police yesterday arrested 17 people in connection with the £8.5million robbery in October
Reality star Kim, 36, was woken at 2.35am on October 3 as she slept in her luxury Paris apartment
Separately, two brothers accused of ‘disposing’ of Kim Kardashian‘s $5m engagement ring following a Paris heist could help get it back, it emerged today.
They are among 17 people seized over the armed robbery of the 36-year-old reality TV star in October.
She lost her prized new 20-carat diamond engagement ring after being held up at gunpoint in an upmarket residential complex close to the American embassy.
The unidentified brothers – who live in Paris and the suburb of Raincy – are currently in custody in the French capital following a series of coordinated raids early on Monday morning.
‘They are involved in the diamond trade, and are thought to have handled the stolen jewellery,’ said an investigating source.
‘Their homes have been searched from top to bottom, and so has a jewellery shop in Paris which is also linked to them.
‘The jewellery has not yet been found, but these brothers could lead us to it over the coming days,’ the source added.
Multiple firearms, including an automatic pistol, and £121,000 in cash were found during the raids that took place across Paris on Monday morning
One of those arrested is the chauffeur with the limo firm used by the Kardashian family in Paris, raising the possibility that the crime could have been an inside job
‘It’s a town where jewellery can be sold on with no questions asked,’ said the source. ‘The men know the industry inside out, and may well know exactly where the ring went.’
The highly distinctive Lorraine Schwartz ring is engraved with the word, ‘Adidas’ – something that was requested by Ms Kardashian’s husband, rapper Kanye West.
It has also emerged that the couple’s favoured Paris driver was among those arrested in connection with the £8.5 million heist.
The development strengthens the theory that the robbery could have been an inside job and that the gang knew exactly where Ms Kardashian would be at any time.
The unnamed 27-year-old driver worked for an upmarket firm that was used by the Kardashian family whenever they were in Paris.
Police confirmed reports he would have known all her movements.
The accused men, aged mostly in their 50s, 60s and 70s, are suspected of stealing jewels and valuables from Ms Kardashian during Paris fashion week.
Pierre B – the 72-year-old alleged ringleader – was arrested after officers broke down the gate of his villa in Plascassier, a village near Grasse, in the south of France.
The age of the suspects has echoes of the 2015 Hatton Garden safe deposit robbery in London – carried out by a team of veteran British criminals.
A police source said: ‘The oldest suspect is 72, while others are in their 50s and 60s and some are well known to the police.’
The reality TV star had a gun pointed at her, her hands and feet bound with cable ties and was left in the bath after masked men with police badges on their jackets burst into her room at a hotel in the city’s exclusive 8th arrondissement.
Ms Kardashian, the world’s highest paid reality television star, was alone because her bodyguard, Pascal Duvier, was out at a nightclub with her sisters.
But three months since the heist, the gang – including ‘career villain’ Pierre B – are thought to have been rounded up.
All those arrested can be held for up to 96 hours before being charged or released.
Barrister Jean Veil said his 36-year-old client had been left deeply traumatised after being bound, gagged and threatened with death in the French capital last October.
The reality TV star had a gun pointed at her, her hands and feet bound with cable ties and was left in the bath after masked men with police badges on their jackets burst into her room at a hotel in the city’s exclusive 8th arrondissement.
Ms Kardashian, the world’s highest paid reality television star, was alone because her bodyguard, Pascal Duvier, was out at a nightclub with her sisters.
But three months since the heist, the gang – including ‘career villain’ Pierre B – are thought to have been rounded up.
‘I welcome this with great satisfaction,’ said Mr Veil, who said he was due to discuss details of the raids with Ms Kardashian when she woke up in Los Angeles last night.
‘These arrests are a nice surprise because on the one hand, it will perhaps make it possible to find the jewellery,’ said Mr Veil.
‘On the other hand, it puts an end to the outrageous speculation by some, who thought it was intelligent to pretend that this robbery was staged, or a publicity stunt organised by Ms Kardashian.’
Mr Veil indicated that Ms Kardashian would look forward ‘putting her nose up’ at those who had doubted her word.
During recent conversations, Mr Veil said Ms Kardashian ‘still showed some form of anxiety. I think she was recently shocked and had the opportunity to say so on television.
‘The money she lost during this robbery is not the only issue. Even though my client was not injured, this assault was very brutal and traumatic. Imagine yourself alone, at night, in front of armed people.’
Earlier this month, Ms Kardashian broke her silence on the robbery in a teaser for the family’s reality show, telling two of her sisters her thoughts at the time: ‘They’re going to shoot me in the back. There’s no way out. It makes me so upset to think about it.’
Last night, it also emerged that French police have failed to call on the key witness in the case – because the authorities will not grant him a temporary visa to enter France.
Abdulrahman, the Algerian concierge who was tied up and forced to give the robbers access to the reality star’s apartment, left France in November to recover from the stress of the experience.
Currently in Algeria, Abdulrahman, 39, is thought to be the only person to have clearly seen the intruders’ faces, and to have had prolonged conversations with them on the night of the crime.
So far, however, investigators have not contacted him to identify the suspects, and his attempts to enter France to be available to police have been rejected, MailOnline can reveal.
He told MailOnline: ‘Before leaving France, the judge in charge of this case told my lawyers that I should renew my residence permit so I can travel quickly for the investigation purposes.
‘Last week, I was in Paris to receive a letter from ‘le prefet de Police’ but he refused my request.’
He added: ‘It is so crazy.’
It comes as police revealed that at least two of the suspects arrested yesterday are of northern Algerian descent.
Abdulrahman’s lawyer, Henri de Beauregard, told MailOnline: ‘He had a visa that expired in November, and when he applied for a new one, he was refused.
‘He doesn’t want to stay in France for long, he just wants to come and be available for the investigation and help the police. It is important for justice and important for him.
‘A victim is a victim. He is no less a victim than Kim – he has a right to face his aggressor.
‘I don’t know if this is incompetence or just a bad decision. He is the best witness, he saw the criminals much longer than Miss Kardashian. I hope the police have a lot of solid proof and evidence, because if they don’t, it will be seen as a crazy decision.’
The gang escaped on ‘velibs’ – hire bicycles which can be rented all over Paris – but one of them dropped a diamond pendant worth around £28,000 in the street outside.
It was found by a woman who handed it in to police, as grainy CCTV of the men on bikes also emerged.
Police said the butter-fingered thief who lost the necklace had effectively led them to the entire group of suspects.
A DNA match from the necklace, along with tape used to gag Ms Kardashian, enabled detectives to trace key members of the gang.
A surveillance operation then led detectives to the other suspects, including jewel dealers thought to have been involved in fencing the stolen gems.
Forensics material found in a Paris hotel matched that of a well-known convicted armed robber described as a ‘major thug’.
A suspected ‘Mr Big’ has been partially identified as Pierre B, a 72-year-old ‘career villain’ from the south of France who made millions through counterfeit money.
Others arrested include two diamond dealers and three women – some of whom are suspected of trailing Ms Kardashian around Paris before the robbery. They can be held for up to 96 hours before being charged or released.
Homes were still being searched yesterday, with documents and other potential evidence being seized.
Raids were also underway at other key premises, including a jewellery shop in the centre of Paris.
A source confirmed that ‘months of surveillance’ had taken place, including phone taps.
Spending patterns have been looked at, and attempts to re-sell the jewellery stolen in October.
Courtesy : DailyMail