Bernard Tapie: French tycoon and wife attacked in home
French tycoon and and former Adidas owner Bernard Tapie and his wife have been attacked in a violent burglary at their estate near Paris.
The couple were tied up with electrical cords, physically assaulted and robbed of their jewellery.
Bernard Tapie, 78, who was briefly a government minister, is a flamboyant and controversial figure.
He has been at the centre of legal battles concerning corruption and fraud for decades, and spent time in jail.
Mr Tapie and his wife, Dominique, 70, were sleeping when four men slipped passed security guards and broke into their home around 00:30 on Sunday (22:30 GMT Saturday).
The intruders pulled Mrs Tapie by the hair “because they wanted to know where the treasure was”, the mayor of Combs-La-Ville, Guy Geoffroy, told AFP.
“But of course there was no treasure, and the fact that they didn’t find it made the violence only worse.”
Mr Tapie was hit over the head with a club while sitting in a chair.
Managing to free herself, Dominique Tapie ran to a neighbour’s home and called the police. She suffered facial injuries after being hit several times, and was taken to hospital.
“She is doing well,” Mr Tapie’s grandson Rodolphe Tapie said.
Mr Tapie refused to go to hospital.
“He is shattered, very tired,” Rodolphe Tapie said.
The thieves reportedly stole two watches, including a Rolex, earrings, bracelets and a ring.
Who is Bernard Tapie?
Bernard Tapie has a long list of accomplishments over a number of decades:
minister for urban affairs in 1992-3
majority shareholder of the sportswear brand Adidas
owner of Olympique de Marseille football club
media boss, taking over La Provence and other newspapers
acting, singing and hosting radio and TV shows.
But he has also had a string of legal problems, declared bankruptcy in the 1990s and spent five months in jail after a series of cases concerning corruption, tax fraud and misuse of corporate assets.
Flaunting his wealth by buying the football club, Olympique de Marseille won the French championship while he was their owner, but he was accused of match-fixing and the club was stripped of its league championship title and later relegated to a lower division.
Agencies