Former Adidas owner and scandalized French tycoon Bernard Tapie and his wife were tied up with electric cables and severely beaten during a violent burglary at home, according to officials.
Tapie, 78, and his wife Dominique Tapie, 70, were sleeping in their home in Combs-la-Ville, near Paris, around 12:30 p.m., Sunday, when four men entered and they tied them up, police said, according to AFP.
The suspects hit Tapie in the head with a club, but he did not want to be hospitalized, the press reported.
“My grandfather refused to be taken,” said his nephew Rodolphe Tapie. “He is crushed, very tired. He was sitting on a chair when he was hit with a stick. ”
His wife – slightly injured due to several blows to the face – managed to free herself and find safety at a neighbor’s house, where she called the police.
She was hospitalized for a brief checkup.
“He’s doing well,” the couple’s nephew 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 it made the violence even worse.”
The suspects finally pulled out 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 ex The socialist minister who came from the humble beginnings, but eventually built a sports empire and the media – before facing legal issues.
He was a majority shareholder in the Adidas sportswear brand, as well as the owner of the Olympique de Marseille football club, which won the French championship during his tenure.
He also briefly served as French Minister of Urban Affairs for the government of François Mitterrand from 1992 to 1993.
But Tapie was later found guilty in various cases of corruption, tax fraud and abuse of corporate assets. He spent five months behind bars in 1997 and was banned from running in any French elections.
After his release, he spent time acting and hosting concerts on television and radio.
In 2012, he became head of media, taking over the southern French daily La Provence and other newspapers.
Now he is in front of a criminal case for a fraudulent arbitration package of 404 million euros (450 million dollars today) related to the sale of Adidas in the ’90s.
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