Wine Heist: Court in Spain sentences duo for wine theft worth $1.7 million. Here's what happened

A court in Spain has sentenced a pair to four and a half years for stealing wine worth $1.7 million from a high-end restaurant.

In October 2021, 45 bottles of wine, including a 217-year-old Château d'Yquem worth $373,000, went missing from the Atrio hotel and restaurant in Cáceres. The Spanish police called the wine heist a meticulously planned theft. They called for an international search to track down the person responsible for the theft.

Cut to nine months when they arrested two people in Croatia. However, they have not discovered the stolen wine yet.

Cops have arrested Priscila Lara Guevara and Constantín Dumitru, a former Mexican beauty pageant and a Romanian-Dutch man. The court has sentenced them to four and a half years in prison for aggravated robbery by a court in the Extremadura region. The appealable sentence also ordered the pair to pay $800,000 in damages to insurers.

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How did the pair pull the 'wine heist?'

The court released some documents on Monday. They describe the heist, mapped out months in advance, like a rip-off straight out of a movie.

The pair visited the hotel three times consecutively. Later, the woman made a reservation using a fake Swiss passport.

On the day of her stay, she arrived with a single backpack and an unregistered guest. However, they did not go straight to the room. They chose to tour the restaurant's precious wine cellar.

At 2 AM, the woman ordered a salad. Initially, the receptionist resisted. He found it odd as they served a 14-course meal to the woman for dinner. But he gave in. While he was away from the reception, the man stole a key card from the reception. However, according to the court, the key card failed to open the door.

So, the man called the woman from the cellar door and asked her to distract the receptionist again. The woman called reception, this time asking for dessert. The employee agreed to bring her some fruit. The man stole the master key card from reception.

He entered the wine cellar and stuffed 45 bottles in three bags. The couple checked out from the hotel at 5 AM. According to the court documents, they placed hotel towels between them to prevent the bottles from clinking.

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What happened at the trial?

During the court trial, Constantín Dumitru denied the charges. His lawyer, Slyvia Cordoba, said, "Forty-five bottles and four towels do not fit in two sports bags and could not be carried so lightly by this man." However, Guevara chose to remain silent.

(With inputs from agencies)

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