The former Adidas owner and the scandal-ridden French tycoon Bernard Tapie and his wife were tied up with electric ropes and beaten during a violent burglary, according to officials.
Tapie (78) and wife Dominique Tapie (70) were sleeping in their house in Combs-la-Ville near Paris around 12:30 on Sunday when four men broke in and tied them up, police told AFP.
The suspects hit Tapie in the head with a club, but he did not want to be admitted to hospital.
“My grandfather refused to be taken away,” said his grandson, Rodolphe Tapie. “He is broken, very tired. He was sitting on a chair when he was beaten with a club. ‘
His wife – slightly injured from multiple blows to the face – managed to free herself and find safety at a neighbor’s house, where she called the police.
She was admitted to hospital for a brief examination.
“She is doing well,” the couple’s grandson told AFP.
The burglars pulled Dominique Tapie by the hair ‘because they wanted to know where the treasure was’, said Combs-la-Ville mayor Guy Geoffroy. “But of course there was no treasure, and the fact that they did not find one only made the violence worse.”
The suspects eventually kicked off with two watches, one of them a Rolex, as well as earrings, bracelets and a ring, a source close to the investigation told AFP.
Bernard Tapie is a former Socialist minister who came from a humble beginning, but eventually built up a sports and media empire – before he got into legal trouble.
He was the majority shareholder of the sportswear retailer Adidas, as well as the owner of the football club Olympique de Marseille, which won the French championship during his ownership.
He also briefly served the French Minister of Urban Affairs for François Mitterrand’s government from 1992 to 1993.
But Tapie was then convicted in various cases of corruption, tax fraud and misuse of corporate assets. He spent five months behind bars in 1997 and was banned from running in any French election.
After his release, he had a chance to perform and give appearances on TV and radio.
In 2012, he became a media boss and took over the southern French daily La Provence and other newspapers.
Well, he is faces a criminal trial over a fraudulent arbitration package of 404 million euros (today $ 450 million) related to its sale of Adidas in the 1990s.
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