Three teenagers are now in police custody for burglarizing the apartment that “Bling Empire: New York” cast members Blake Abbie and Lynn Ban rented while attending Paris Fashion Week.
Gia Khan, the cast members’ agent, told CNN that the incident occurred in Paris’ 8th arrondissement near the Champs Elysées on March 2.
Khan said Ban’s husband, Jett Kain, returned to their apartment after shopping to drop off his bags and pick up his wife. The three alleged culprits reportedly managed to slip into the building as the couple was leaving.
They then went to the cast members’ apartment, broke the lock of its front door and forced their way inside. Khan said the alleged burglars took the apartment safe where the cast members left their important documents, passports and an iPad.
The teenagers also allegedly stole a Tom Ford jacket that Kain had bought, as well as a Rolex watch, diamonds and about 5,000 euros (approximately $5,280), among other things.
Khan added that the minors bragged about taking the safe in a video they filmed while inside the apartment.
Subscribe to
NextShark's Newsletter
A daily dose of Asian America's essential stories, in under 5 minutes.
Get our collection of Asian America's most essential stories to your inbox daily for free.
Unsure? Check out our Newsletter Archive.
Kain and Ban immediately notified the French police after realizing their front door’s lock was broken.
Using the iPad’s geolocation feature, authorities managed to track down the alleged burglars. They also reportedly found one adult who may have been in charge of handling the stolen items, most of which were recovered in less than a day.
Authorities reportedly released the man, who had just come out of prison, from custody without charges. However, investigation into the minors continues.
Commenting on the incident, Ban and Kain said in a statement to CNN that they were grateful to the French police for their help.
“As foreigners in France, especially during Fashion Week one would think this would have been a total loss but the French police really went above and beyond the call of duty in this case and we are forever grateful of this,” Ban, a Singaporean-born jewelry designer who moved to New York City at the age of 4, said.
Meanwhile, Abbie told CNN he was left “pretty rattled,” saying that he was out for an appointment when Ban informed him of what happened.
“To be in and out of police stations, in French, and then try to balance the fact that I’m in Paris for work was incredibly destabilizing,” he said.
Announced in October 2022, “Bling Empire: New York” is a spin-off of Netflix’s hit reality TV show “Bling Empire,” which premiered in January 2021.
The eight-episode spin-off, which was released on Jan. 20, follows “a fresh group of wealthy, sophisticated and hilarious Asian Americans” in New York.
