Followed by more than one million people, this Moroccan man stands trial for the theft of a €200,000 watch
A Moroccan influencer with a large following on social media is standing trial in London over the spectacular theft of a Richard Mille watch belonging to Romanian fashion designer Catalin Botezatu. Abdel El Habchi denies taking part in the robbery and claims he discovered everything at the last moment.
Abdel El Habchi, 30, is appearing before Southwark Crown Court alongside Ali Eldahouzze, 22. Both deny the theft charge. A third man, Younes Djoudi, has pleaded guilty.
The case concerns a Richard Mille watch set with diamonds and crystals, valued at around €200,000. On January 28, Catalin Botezatu was outside the Amazonico restaurant, in Berkeley Square, in the upmarket Mayfair district, when he was attacked.
The fashion designer, who has notably worked with Vogue and Versace, told jurors that three men had surrounded him. Two allegedly restrained him while a third used a sharp object to cut the watch’s strap directly from his wrist.
According to the prosecution, the three men had identified their target before taking action. Abdel El Habchi presents a completely different version.
Originally from the Casablanca region, he says he arrived in the United Kingdom in 2019 on a spouse visa. Married and the father of two children, he worked as a security guard. But he also has a substantial online following: around one million subscribers on Facebook and some 350,000 on Instagram, in addition to his TikTok account, reports The Daily Mail.
“I had no idea what was going to happen”
The Moroccan man says he was with Ali Eldahouzze when the latter received a call from Younes Djoudi asking him to join him in Mayfair. Once in Djoudi’s car near the restaurant, El Habchi says he remained seated in the back watching videos on TikTok.
He says he then accompanied the two men on foot and saw Djoudi grab something from a man’s wrist. When the others began to run, he says he panicked and fled as well.
“I had no idea that this was going to happen. I did not take part and I did not even know that a watch had been snatched or stolen until I learned about it later,” he told the jurors.
The prosecution offered a completely different interpretation of events. Prosecutor Arizuna Asante asked him whether the real purpose of their presence in Berkeley Square was not precisely to identify someone wearing a high-value watch. El Habchi replied in the negative.
The Moroccan man also claims that he discovered the following day that Djoudi was in possession of the watch. He says he was then threatened: if he spoke to the police, Djoudi allegedly threatened to “burn” his children. He says he feared for their safety.
The three men were remanded in Wandsworth Prison after their arrest. El Habchi also claims that he was assaulted there in April by around fifteen inmates and accuses Djoudi of instigating the attack.
Catalin Botezatu, for his part, said that he genuinely feared for his life during the theft. His assistant tried to chase the attackers but was unable to catch them.
The watch has not been recovered. According to the prosecution, its current value would now be significantly higher than €160,000.