Russians robbedof 1MillionEuros Arriving in Paris

Non-political secular news and anything else (within the boundaries of Christian morality and good taste) that is not on-topic in any other section. Any politically charged material must be posted in the private Political and Social Issues forum; please PM admin for access. All Forum Rules apply. No polemics. No heated discussions. No name-calling.
User avatar
Barbara
Protoposter
Posts: 3983
Joined: Sat 29 September 2012 6:03 pm

Russians robbedof 1MillionEuros Arriving in Paris

Post by Barbara »

It appears that wealthy foreign tourists arriving by business jet to Paris' Le Bourget airport now must send decoys on the road - perhaps cars with dummies in them - and sneak into the nearest Metro station to arrive safely at their fancy hotels or apartments in the upscale 16e arrondissement.

Another idea is for larger groups to separate into one's and two's and take public buses and arrange to meet at Notre-Dame Cathedral later that day to avoid being the victims of obviously well-organized attacks like occurred yesterday :

"Three Russian tourists were reportedly robbed by masked highwaymen in a Paris suburb, minutes after they arrived in the city of love. The thieves made off with a fortune in jewelry and designer clothes.

The wealthy Russians flew into Paris-Le Bourget Airport - a small airport serving the elite private jet-set - on Monday night. Skipping public transport, they hired a chauffeur-driven car into the city center. Unbeknownst to them, four hooded thugs were following.

As the Russians merged onto the A1 motorway, their car was violently rammed and forced to stop. The four French hoodlums, dressed in masks and gloves, stormed the vehicle and relieved the tourists of their cell phones and their luggage. ...Within the luggage was between €500,000 and €1 million worth of jewelry, handbags and designer clothes, at least according to the Russians themselves."

https://www.rt.com/news/437639-russian- ... bed-paris/

Correction to the article: Paris has long been called the City of Light, not the City of Love [ which sounds like Woodstock, hippies and the 1960s in America ].

I seem to remember flying into Le Bourget, north of Paris, as a student on a charter flight probably soon before commercial aviation was stopped to that airport. However, the road into town was quite safe in those days. No one could DREAM such a danger would lurk some decades later.

Perhaps there are gangs which have lookouts at Le Bourget to pass the word of wealthy foreign arrivals disembarking a Learjet or equivalent private aircraft. Otherwise, how would the bandits know to stop these Russians' car in particular out of the many on the road ? I doubt the attack was at all motivated by the nationality of the tourists ; it was surely their wealthy appearance which sent the alert to fellow pirates waiting along the highway.

At least the tourists in this incident were not harmed ; it could have been worse.

Nonetheless, where were their prayers to Archangel Michael and the Mother of God for protection that day ?
Image

User avatar
Barbara
Protoposter
Posts: 3983
Joined: Sat 29 September 2012 6:03 pm

Re: Russians robbedof 1MillionEuros Arriving in Paris

Post by Barbara »

Image
Romano-Byzantine style Sacre-Coeur, inspired by Istanbul's St Sophia. This Cathedral was built in national repentance for sins and turning away from God. Maybe the roaming bands of today's robbers need to spend some time in prayer here !

Image
The Paris Opera, built under the French Second Empire, another major tourist draw. The architect was Charles Garnier

Still shocked about such a dark event occurring in the City of Light, I looked into this a little more. I found that the Russian visitors are not the only targets. Chinese tourists have had it even worse, it sounds like.

These quotations are from a Chinese tourism expert, who told the Express [ one can almost hear the British gloating at the downfall of the reputation of their traditional enemy across the Channel ] :

“For a number of Chinese tourists, the dream of visiting France and Paris has turned into a nightmare.
“Chinese tourists are robbed in the palace of Versailles, at the foot of the Eiffel Tower, in front of their hotel, as they leave their coaches.
“In high season, not a day goes by without tourists being assaulted.”

Mr Zhou said one incident left an 80-year-old man seriously injured after he tried to fight off thieves and also claimed female tourists had been pushed to the ground and had their bags stolen.

The travel expert said he had watched France’s security situation deteriorate over the years and said Paris now ranked “number one in Europe in terms of the upsurge in delinquency”.

https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/75 ... umber-down

Rome has been infamous for decades for brazen purse-snatching and pickpocketing, particular around the train station. Paris, however, has never suffered from such widespread excesses. [ Though I just remembered my sister getting pickpocketed on the Paris Metro in summer 1977. She was too newly arrived to France plus was easily detectable as an American. This vulnerability made her stand out to the trained eyes of the bandits operating in that era. She only suffered the loss of 25 francs [ about $ 5 ], however ; imagine forfeiting 1 million euros worth of jewelry, accoutrements, etc ! ]

By the way, travelers to Western Europe should never leave any documents, money, valuables, passports locked in their cars, nor consider for a minute leaving these items in car trunks : these ruthless gangs will find a way into anything.
The same applies to Central Europe, with Romania standing out in my mind as particularly dangerous in this regard.

User avatar
Barbara
Protoposter
Posts: 3983
Joined: Sat 29 September 2012 6:03 pm

Re: Russians robbedof 1MillionEuros Arriving in Paris

Post by Barbara »

A French article explains why the Chinese tourists have been target so frequently. Apparently, they carry around large amounts of actual cash with them, a fact well known to the attackers. Hotels in the neighborhoods of the principal Paris airports, CDG-Roissy and Orly, have become dangerous for Chinese tourists.

Some Chinese are opting to travel to their less sensational but much safer neighbor, Russia.

Like I said, Russians are not specifically targeted ; rather anyone who has an ostentatious appearance is at risk. 2 weeks ago, around the day of St Job of Pochaev, a Saudi Princess was relieved of a vast sum when thieves broke into her suite at the Paris Ritz.

Image
Probable Rolls Royce with chauffeur await fortunate hotel guests at the Paris Ritz.

This time, jewels valued at about 800,000 euros [ around 1 million USD ] were taken. However, the story is mysterious. The Princess' luxury suite showed no sign of any unlawful entry -- but the jewels, left not in the room's safe but on a bedside table, had vanished.

Could it have been a member of the Ritz housekeeping staff ? Maids and housecleaners have become notorious in many countries as prone to make off with any loot they can from travelers from the Arab world. The preferred catch is seemingly women's jewelry, as in this example. Why ? I don't know, but one can imagine that it is easy to transport. Unlike a credit card or other noncash forms of payment, I assume jewelry requires no identification to sell.

Even personal servants to wealthy families around the world have become unreliable. Another Saudi Princess suspected her maid of robbing her of $ 200,000 in cash and jewels. Everyone should be cautious around hotel staff as well as even supposedly reputable cleaning services.

Even here in Idaho, I heard from a real estate manager that an Arab student's wife was cleaned out of all of her jewelry by a maid from one such service over summer vacation when the family had gone home. Nothing could be done, because there was no absolute proof. But the culprit was obvious to all concerned.

Panteri_VRS
Newbie
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue 25 September 2018 10:35 am
Location: Saratov, Russia

Re: Russians robbedof 1MillionEuros Arriving in Paris

Post by Panteri_VRS »

Sadly, one of the main reasons why this happens is because rich Russians coming to Paris (or other places) tend to do everything humanly possible to look like they're rich... They will rent the gaudiest cars, wear the most exuberant clothes, and will carry huge bags full of what they buy in luxury shops. They're the kind of people for which this would not look luxurious enough if they were to buy an apartment there. Think less French castle and more Trump Tower :lol:

It's the same with Chinese and Middle Eastern rich people ; they want to look like the richest rich person to ever be rich, and of course this is bound to attract criminals in search of easy money.

Meanwhile, I know many rich people from different countries ; Eastern and Western Europe, Japanese people... who dress smart, wear luxurious clothes, but don't overdo it and just look like, well, classy people. These won't be targeted, or, well, not much more than anyone else in Paris. :ohvey:

User avatar
Barbara
Protoposter
Posts: 3983
Joined: Sat 29 September 2012 6:03 pm

Re: Russians robbedof 1MillionEuros Arriving in Paris

Post by Barbara »

A warm welcome to the board, Panteri. What does VRS stand for ?
How do you like Saratov ?

Helpful insights, thank you, much appreciated. I will reply tomorrow, God willing.

Panteri_VRS
Newbie
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue 25 September 2018 10:35 am
Location: Saratov, Russia

Re: Russians robbedof 1MillionEuros Arriving in Paris

Post by Panteri_VRS »

Thank you for your welcoming message! VRS stands vor Vojske Republike Srpske - the army in which I served in twenty years ago, trying to defend my homeland from the Mujahideen and neo-nazi Croat forces. We lost, but that's a whole different story...

And Saratov is nice, it is not the most prosperous city in Russia, but it has work for everyone and very little criminality, which is very nice to have when you grew up in Eastern Europe in the 1990s.

User avatar
Barbara
Protoposter
Posts: 3983
Joined: Sat 29 September 2012 6:03 pm

Re: Russians robbedof 1MillionEuros Arriving in Paris

Post by Barbara »

Yes, speaking of robberies -- the theme of the thread -- the amount of crime in Eastern Europe was staggering. I heard it was really bad in Bulgaria, but when I got there, they all said with eyes wide : "This is nothing> Wait til you get to Romania". In Bucharest, I still remember walking up to a money change office on a corner and when I tried to reach the glass front door, a small crowd of unsavory looking men hovering nearby quickly closed in, eyeing me with a predatory look. The men squished in on all sides and grabbed at my main travel bag which had my passport, etc. I snatched it away from them with an angry look. But they didn't fall back like I expected ; instead, they continued to jostle me. I managed to get through the door and then was safe, but I have never experienced such a brazen thing in all my years of travel. Especially not at the door of a money change place, which are normally absolutely fine. I went all through Russia not long after and never had the tiniest problem at one [ nor anywhere, on streets, on very long train journeys, etc. ] I shudder to remember that and another episode at the Bucharest airport. People were desperate then. All manners and the usual respect for foreign travelers were cast to the wind.

Did you have any experiences like that, Panteri_VRS in the 1990s ? Or did you 'evacuate' to Saratov before too much danger affected you ?
By the way, what does Panteri mean ? Is it a rank in the army ?
Will you go back eventually ? Or Saratov is now your home for good ?

I'll be posting more about Paris. Meanwhile, to say that your explanation about the ostentatious displays of wealth made me finally understand the picture better. When I traveled, it was Americans who were the ones who stood out for so many reasons.
Loud voices ; no attempt to speak the local language [ or a pitiful one ] ; too casually dressed, thus looked down upon by citizens of more traditional countries as 'hippies' or sleazy ; throwing around money indiscriminately, etc.

There were NO Chinese tourists ; only Japanese at that time. Of course not Russian tourists either, since the Soviet Union was still either ongoing or quite recent. Any Chinese tourists one saw within China were well-behaved and low-key, not at all showing off wealth-wise or in any other way. They carried NO bags of purchases in that epoch !

This revelation about how these groups behave today is absolutely eye-opening.

Post Reply