A Spanish court recently jailed a couple for stealing 45 bottles of wine worth over 1.6 million euros from a hotel restaurant in what police called a “meticulously planned” theft.
A bottle of Chateau D’Yquem 1806 worth €350,000 was among the wines stolen from the Atrio hotel in Caceres in southwest Spain in October 2021 in the heist which made global headlines. The court in Caceres, Spain sentenced the woman to 4 years in jail and the man to four and a half years, after finding them guilty of burglary with forced entry.
The court also ordered the couple who were arrested in July 2022 in Croatia to pay compensation of 753,454 euros to the hotel.
The court stated that the woman, who according to Spanish press reports is a former Mexican beauty queen, checked into the hotel using a fake Swiss passport.
After dining in the Michelin three-star restaurant of the hotel, the pair were given a tour of the Atrio’s renowned wine cellar before they retired to their room.
According to the court ruling the woman AT 2 pm called the reception and asked the “sole employee” who was working at the time to make her a salad. The employee first denied the request as he was alone and because the couple had eaten a 14-course tasting menu but he ended up agreeing because she kept insisting.
While the employee was preparing the salad, the man slipped into reception and stole an electronic key that he thought would gain entry to the wine cellar but it was the wrong one.
From outside the wine cellar, the man called his partner and told her once again to distract the receptionist, so she requested a dessert.
The court said that “The accused returned to the reception and from a box, he took master key number 27, which he used to open the wine cellar from where he took 45 bottles of wine.”
The man, who reportedly has Romanian and Dutch citizenship, carried the bottles to his room in a rucksack and two large bags before the receptionist returned to his post.
Spain’s National Police stated in a statement when the pair were arrested with the “meticulously planned” heist, visiting the restaurant 3 times to prepare the raid.
