Eric Robic, Tel Aviv hit-and-run perpetrator shot in Paris, had long history of financial crime

Eric Robic, the perpetrator of a fatal Tel Aviv hit-and-run in 2011 who was gunned down last week in Paris, was a convicted fraudster with a decades-long criminal record, though friends claimed he had turned his life around before he was killed.

The 51-year-old was shot and killed by two men on a motor scooter Thursday morning, as he too rode a motor scooter in the posh Paris suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine. Police reportedly suspect Robic’s violent death was linked to his criminal history, but the investigation is moving slowly and the perpetrators are still at large.

Convicted in a Paris court in 2014 of manslaughter after he struck and killed a young woman in Tel Aviv in 2011, the Jewish Frenchman had fled the scene and flown to France, where he was found guilty in 2024 for his role in a fraud scheme that involved money laundering in Israel.

“His [Robic’s] criminal record includes twelve convictions since 1994,” said Paris Public Prosecutor Laure Beccuau in a Thursday statement carried by French outlets. “He had been convicted of financial offenses, notably against car dealerships and banking institutions, as well as for aggravated vehicular manslaughter.”

Robic made headlines and sparked outrage in Israel in 2011 after fatally ramming 25-year-old yoga instructor Lee Zeitouni. She had been heading to work that morning in Tel Aviv when he struck her in his SUV, then quickly fled the scene.

He and his passenger at the time, Claude Khayat, evaded trial in Israel by swiftly flying to France, which does not extradite its citizens outside the European Union.

Their getaway strained ties between Paris and Jerusalem, but a trial was eventually held in Paris for the two fugitives after Zeitouni’s family spearheaded an international campaign to bring them to justice.

The pair’s testimony in court revealed they had been coming back from a nightclub in Ramat Gan, where they drank alcohol.

Robic was convicted in November 2014 and handed a sentence of five years in French prison for the deadly crash, while Khayat was sentenced to 15 months in jail for not providing aid to a person in distress.

Robic was released by a judge on account of his “good behavior” in 2016.

Meyer Habib, a former member of the French Parliament, expressed outrage at the controversial move, calling it an “an insult to the memory” of Zeitouni.

Robic was locked up again on offenses of drunk driving and assaulting a police officer, according to the Hebrew-language Channel 13. He was freed in 2019.

Zeitouni’s father, Itzik, confessed to feeling a “certain relief” upon Robic’s death on Thursday. “As far as I’m concerned, he is my daughter’s despicable murderer who fled the scene and the sentence he received in France was laughable,” Zeitouni told the Ynet news site. “I feel like justice was served today.”

Even before he was found guilty of manslaughter, Robic had been involved in a massive 1 million euro car sales scam alongside Khayat. A month prior to their conviction in the Zeitouni case, the pair were arrested with four other suspects in that case, AFP reported.

The scam involved the use of shell companies (French link) to buy luxury cars on lease, which they changed the plates on and then resold. Proceeds from the car sales were laundered abroad, including in Poland, Hungary and Israel, then transferred back to the scammers in cash.

Robic was convicted, handed a suspended sentence of 18 months in January 2024 and ordered to compensate the victims of the scheme, according to Ouest-France, a French daily. Khayat was also sentenced to two years in absentia, and an arrest warrant was issued for him.

During his second stint in prison, Robic was also charged and tried, but not convicted, in a prison bribery scheme alongside Arnaud Mimran — a French tycoon known in Israel for his ties to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The pair were suspected of taking part in bribing staff at Fresnes Prison, including a director and a supervisor, for preferential treatment, including the provision of cellphones and alcohol.

Robic, nicknamed “Rico,” acted as a bodyguard for Mimran in Fresnes prison, according to Le Figaro. The pair were charged, with prosecutors requesting a two-year prison sentence for both.

Mimran was sentenced to two years in prison for the bribery, but Robic was acquitted, AFP reported.

Despite his 2024 fraud conviction, Robic’s close circle was surprised by his sudden death, claiming he had distanced himself from the criminal underworld in recent years.

“For us, he had completely turned his life around. He acquired shares in a kosher restaurant in Levallois [a city bordering Neuilly-sur-Seine and Paris] and was earning a living through perfectly legal business practices,” an acquaintance told the French paper Le Parisien. He leaves behind four children aged 9 to 18.

Speaking to the French paper, another acquaintance said he believed Robic had been “completely outside the criminal underworld” at the time of his death, but added that “you never really know people completely.”