Couple jailed for stealing 45 bottles of wine worth $1.7 million in Spain

Madrid:

A Spanish court sentenced a couple to prison on Monday for stealing 45 bottles of wine worth more than 1.6 million euros ($1.7 million) from a hotel restaurant in what police called a “carefully planned” theft.

A bottle of Château de Yquem 1806 worth 350,000 euros was among the wines stolen from the Atrio Hotel in Cáceres, southwest Spain, in October 2021, making headlines around the world.

A court in Caceres sentenced the woman to four years in prison and the man to four and a half years, after being found guilty of burglary with forcible entry.

The court also ordered the pair – who were arrested in Croatia in July 2022 – to pay compensation of 753,454 euros to the hotel.

The court noted 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 a meal at the hotel’s Michelin three-star restaurant, the pair were given a tour of the Atrio’s famous wine cellar before being escorted to their room.

According to the court’s ruling, at 2 a.m. the woman called the reception and asked the “only employee” working at that time to make her a salad.

The employee declined the request at first because he was alone and because the couple had eaten a 14-course tasting menu but agreed because she kept insisting.

While the staff was preparing the salad, the man slipped into reception and stole an electronic key that he would use to enter the wine cellar, but it was misplaced.

From outside the wine cellar, the man called out to his companion and asked to once again distract the receptionist, so he requested a dessert.

“The accused returned to the reception and took master key number 27 from a box which he used to open the wine cellar from where he took 45 bottles of liquor,” the court said.

The man, who reportedly holds Romanian and Dutch citizenships, took the bottles to his room in a rucksack and two large bags before returning to his post at receptionist.

Spain’s national police said in a statement that the couple had “meticulously planned” the robbery, visiting the restaurant three times in preparation for the raid.

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