French tycoon and former minister Bernard Tapie was handcuffed and beaten during an overnight robbery from his home in Paris

Former French minister and magnate Bernard Tapie, known for his purchase and subsequent sale of sports brand Adidas, he was assaulted and robbed at his home on Saturday night while he was with his wife, French media reported on Sunday.

The couple was sleeping when four people broke into his home in Combs-la-Ville, a wealthy town in the region near Paris, after midnight, around 12:30 a.m. from Saturday to Sunday. They were beaten and tied up with electric cables. The four people who entered his house did so through a window on the first floor, and jewelry and watches were taken as booty.

Dominique Tapie, the businessman’s wife, managed to free herself and went to a neighbor from where she alerted the police. With minor injuries, the firefighters took the woman to the hospital; While Tapie, 78, refused to receive medical treatment, the sources said.

The Versailles judicial police have opened an investigation for robbery aggravated by violence and kidnappings.

The former businessman, who suffers from stomach and esophageal cancer, has built a sports and media empire. He was president of the Olympique de Marseille club between 1986 and 1994 and made a fortune at the start of his career by taking over bankrupt companies.

Known around the world for flaunting his wealth, he took up a lot of space in the press for the purchase of a 72-meter yacht and the football club.

He was also Minister of Town Planning, and has been accused in the past of fraud and embezzlement of public funds in the Adidas arbitration case, for which he obtained 404 million euros to settle the dispute with the bank. Crédit Lyonnais for the sale of it.

Justice confiscated Adidas from him in the 90s and then attributed this sports brand to Crédit Lyonnais, which resold it at a higher price. Tapie asked for compensation for having considered that he had suffered economic and moral damage in the context of this operation. His claim, after being in the hands of the ordinary courts for years, ended up being dealt with in this controversial arbitration. Civil proceedings ordered him to reimburse the sums collected. The appeal trial was scheduled for last October, but has been postponed to next May due to his state of health.

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