Thief on Lime bike who robbed billionaire Malaysian businessman of his £400k Richard Mille watch admits possessing false ID paperwork
A thief on a Lime bike who robbed a billionaire Malaysian businessman of his Richard Mille watch worth up to £400,000 has admitted possessing false identity documents.
Djamel Benadda, 34, targeted CEO and philanthropist Vinod Sekhar in Battersea, southwest London, on 27 September.
The 57-year-old, described as a ‘close friend’ of Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, is the son of natural rubber tycoon B.C. Shekhar.
Speaking after the attack, Mr Sekhar said he was rushed by two men as he left his car near his daughter’s home.
He said his wife behaved ‘like a lioness’ by swinging her bags at the thieves before they fled on their e-bikes.
Benadda earlier admitted robbing the businessman, two further counts of money laundering and one of theft relating to a wallet and contents belonging to Luman You in Battersea on November 13, 2024.
Yesterday, he pleaded guilty to two further offences of possessing false identity documents with intent to deceive, namely an Irish passport and a French driving licence.
Djamel Benadda, 34, (pictured) targeted CEO and philanthropist Vinod Sekhar in Battersea, southwest London, on 27 September
Speaking after the attack, Mr Sekhar said he was rushed by two men as he left his car near his daughter’s home
Benadda also admitted being in breach of a four month suspended sentence, imposed by magistrates in October last year for an earlier offence of theft.
He still insists the stolen watch was a counterfeit Richard Mille ‘of no value’.
Judge Rajeev Shetty said there will have to a Newton hearing in the new year to decide this issue with Mr Sekhar possibly giving evidence via videolink from overseas.
Alison Kay Morgan, defending, earlier told the court: ‘Mr Benadda accepts that he took part in that robbery, he’s saying the watch found in his house is the watch that was taken – and its as counterfeit.
‘He doesn’t want the impression being given that he’s stolen a £400,000 watch, potentially.’
Prosecutor James O’Connell had said: ‘The stolen watch has a value possibly anything between £100,000 and £400,000.
‘The position is that its a different watch than the one found at the home address, so we will be maintaining that the watch is high value watch, of which the victim said he himself spent £100,000 on.’
He said 36 watches as well as £270,000 in cash was found at Benadda’s address.
Mr Sekhar praised his wife Winny Yeap for behaving like ‘lioness’ during the terrifying incident
A photo Mr Sekhar shared on his Facebook account of police responding to the incident
Benadda, of Wandsworth, was remanded in custody until January 26 when there will be another hearing to set a date for a Newton hearing – where a judge will decide on disputed facts – and the sentencing.
Sharing his experience in a Facebook post, Mr Sekhar said he was targeted shortly after he and his wife, Winny Yeap, had arrived at their daughter’s apartment following an evening watching Hamilton.
‘As I parked and stepped out of the car, two men suddenly appeared,’ he wrote.
‘They rushed at me, smothered me, hit me a few times on the chest and thighs, and tore the watch off my wrist. I tried to hold on but couldn’t – my post transplant medication and health simply didn’t allow it.
‘And then, like the lioness she’s always been, my wife jumped in – swinging her bag, shouting at them, fearless and protective.
‘In that moment, the muggers fled on electric Lime bikes. I was bruised, bleeding lightly (thanks to the blood thinners it looked worse than it was), but relatively unscathed.’
Mr Sekhar said officers from the Met Police arrived within ‘minutes’ and praised them as ‘calm, efficient, and kind’.
He continued: ‘One officer said something that stayed with me: ”You were lucky. If you’d held on, they would have stabbed you”.’
Reflecting on the robbery, the businessman urged his followers not to ‘wear expensive watches, carry flashy bags, or assume the streets are as safe as they look’.
