The facts accused of this couple are worthy of a script, both because of the profile of the defendants and the nature of the loot stolen or the manner in which they acted. A Spanish court on Monday sentenced a man and a woman to four and four and a half years in prison, respectively, for stealing 45 extraordinary wine bottles worth 1.64 million euros.
The facts come from October 2021 at the Hotel-Restaurant Atrio in Cáceres (south-west), the court of the same city recalls in a press release. According to the Spanish press, those convicted are a former Mexican beauty queen and a Romanian-Dutch person arrested in Croatia in July 2022. This couple had booked a room in a hotel restaurant under the name of the woman with a false passport.
After having dinner in the hotel restaurant, they took a tour of the basement and then went to their room. At around 2 a.m., the woman called the front desk and asked for a salad from the “only employee working at the time,” the court statement said. Surprised by his salad order – since the woman had already eaten from a 14-course tasting menu – the employee initially refused because he was alone at reception, but finally gave in at the woman’s insistence.
The thief gets the wrong key
For example, before attempting to enter the basement, the suspect was able to steal an electronic key from reception without realizing that it was not the right key. Never mind: To create another distraction, the woman then ordered dessert from the receptionist. The man returned to reception and put his hand on the sesame to gain access to the basement, where he grabbed the 45 bottles of wine that he “hid in a backpack and two large bags that immediately went up into the room before the clerk.” was back at reception,” read the statement.
Among the stolen wines were a bottle of Château D’Yquem 1806 valued at 350,000 euros, another of 1883 valued at 45,000 euros and several Romanée-Conti Grand Crus of various vintages and of great value.