Preyed on Women in Bars : Phony Diplomat Convicted in Robberies

A Canoga Park man, accused of posing as an Israeli diplomat to meet women in cocktail lounges, then robbing them after they left with him, was convicted Friday of nine felony counts.

Abdel Kader Eddahbi, 39, a native of Morocco who said he was a self-employed exporter, grimaced when the jury’s verdict was read after three days of deliberation in Van Nuys Superior Court.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Michelle Rosenblatt said the robberies by Eddahbi occurred from September through November of 1984 at fashionable bars in the West Valley.

Eddahbi would approach women who were wearing expensive jewelry and tell them that he was a wealthy Israeli diplomat who was well-connected in foreign circles and was involved in the 1984 Olympics, Rosenblatt said. He would later ask the women to leave the bar and have dinner or cocktails with him at expensive restaurants.

‘Convincing Line’

“He had a distinctive way of operating and would befriend the women with a very convincing line,” Rosenblatt said. “He chose only well-groomed women who were wearing fine jewelry.”

Once in his car with the women, ages 43 to 66, Eddahbi told his victims he had a gun, drove them to dark or remote areas and stole their jewelry and cash, Rosenblatt said. He then pushed them out of his car and drove away. None of the women was seriously injured.

Los Angeles police arrested Eddahbi on Nov. 15, 1984, at his Canoga Park town house. Inside, police found a credit card that one of the victims had reported stolen, Rosenblatt said. He said Eddahbi’s wife was wearing two stolen rings.

The wife is not under investigation and apparently was not aware of her husband’s crimes, Rosenblatt said.

Judge Richard A. Adler scheduled sentencing for June 4 in his courtroom. Eddahbi could get a maximum of 18 years, eight months in state prison.

Eddahbi was convicted of six counts of robbery, one count of attempted robbery and two counts of kidnaping. Since his arrest, he has been held in lieu of $100,000 bail at County Jail.