On Monday, a Spanish court found a couple guilty of stealing more than €1.6 million worth of wine from a hotel restaurant. CBS.
In October 2021, a total of 47 liters of wine was stolen from the Atrio Hotel in Cáceres, southwest Spain, including a bottle of 1806 vintage Chateau Decmet, worth about €350,000 (about HUF 1.3 million).
After the couple had dinner at the hotel’s Michelin-starred restaurant, they were given a tour of the Atrio’s famous wine cellar before retiring to their room. At 2 am the woman – who was said to be a Mexican miss who had arrived with false papers – called the front desk and asked the only employee working at the time to prepare a salad for her. The employee initially refused the order because she was alone and because the couple had eaten a menu of 14 dishes previously. However, he eventually agreed because she insisted.
While the employee was preparing the salad, the man crept into the reception and stole the master key, then opened the wine cellar, where he took 45 bottles of wine. The man, who reportedly has dual Romanian and Dutch citizenship, took the bottles to his room in a backpack and two large suitcases before the receptionist returned to his seat.
The court sentenced the woman to four years in prison and the man to four and a half years after convicting them of burglary with forced entry. They were also ordered to pay €753,454 in damages to the hotel.
Spain’s national police said in a statement when they were arrested that the two men had “meticulously planned” the robbery and had visited the restaurant three times to prepare for the robbery.
