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 of manslaughter after he struck and killed a young woman in Tel Aviv in 2011, the Jewish Frenchman fled the scene and flew 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 for the two fugitives after Zeitouni’s family spearheaded an international campaign to bring them to justice.

The pair’s testimony........

© The Times of Israel