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Paris: Saudi robbed of €15k cash while dining

A man working for the Saudi Arabian embassy in Paris had a whopping €15,000 in cash stolen while dining out in the city on Tuesday afternoon. He’s just the latest Saudi national to be targeted by thieves in France.

Published: 24 October 2014 12:45 CEST

Paris: Saudi robbed of €15k cash while dining

Relations between France and Saudi Arabia could soon be strained if Paris thieves are not stopped. Photo: Dominic Faget/AFP

The Saudi national, who works as the embassy’s culture attaché, was dining at a restaurant on place Victor Hugo in the upmarket 16th arrondissement when the theft happened, Le Parisien reported.

When the man got up to leave at around 4pm he found that his bag had been stolen, which reportedly containing a total of €15,000 in cash, as well as his personal belongings.

He then reported the theft to police, who have opened an investigation.

SEE ALSO: Armed gang attack 'Saudi prince's' convoy

He isn’t the first unfortunate Saudi to fall victim to thieves in Paris.

In August The Local reported how gunmen armed with Kalashnikovs attacked the motorcade of a Saudi prince in Paris. The robbers stole around €250,000 in cash and some "sensitive" documents, according to reports.

And just a few days ago the niece of the King of Saudi Arabia had a total of €25,000 stolen after she left two bags in her car in Paris.

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Two computers stolen from French Olympics' organiser in Lille

However, the spokesperson did not specify the nature of the data linked to the Olympic Games that they contained.

“The complaint from a manager responsible for the planning of the Lille Olympic site was received on the evening of April 29 regarding the theft of two laptops and a badge which were in the organiser’s vehicle, which was parked in front of their home,” said Lille prosecutor Carole Etienne.

“Investigations are underway” to identify the suspect and determine “the exact nature of the data that these computers contained in connection with the 2024 Olympics,” she added.

According to a police source, one of the stolen computers was likely to contain “security plans” for the infrastructure of the Olympic village of Villeneuve-d’Ascq in Lille.

The theft occurred Monday at around 6:30 pm, according to this source, who said that access to files hosted on the network and the cloud was blocked by the Paris 2024 IT department.

“In accordance with Paris 2024 procedures, all data recorded on Paris 2024 computer equipment is encrypted and protected by passwords, and as soon as the theft was reported, the computer was locked remotely,” a spokesperson from the Olympics’ Organising Committee (Cojo) said.

“The security of computer equipment is one of the priorities of Paris 2024, which has taken all risks into account in order to deal with any incident,” the Committee said.

The stolen badge was “an identification badge which does not allow any door to be opened” and “the computer was turned off”, a second police source told AFP.

At the end of February, a bag belonging to an engineer from the City of Paris and containing a computer and two USB sticks where notes relating to the Paris Olympic Games were stored was stolen from a train at Gare du Nord.

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