crossorigin="anonymous"> A couple booked a 14-course meal as cover to steal $1.7 million worth of wine from a Michelin-star restaurant – Trending News

A couple booked a 14-course meal as cover to steal $1.7 million worth of wine from a Michelin-star restaurant

[ad_1]

A man and a woman walk out from Restaurante Atrio, carrying three bags of stolen wine bottles worth up to &1.7 million, in Caceres, Spain October 27, 2021 in this frame grab taken from CCTV video released on July 20, 2022.Spanish Police/Handout via REUTERS

  • A former beauty queen and her partner stole wine worth $1.7 million from a restaurant in Spain.

  • The couple were sentenced on Monday to around four years in prison.

  • They ordered a 14-course meal to scout the restaurant, then stole the wines in the dead of night.

A former Mexican beauty queen and her Romanian-Dutch partner were sentenced four years in prison for an audacious heist which saw them pose as high-end diners to steal $1.7 million worth of wine.

Priscila Guevara, 28, and Constantín Dumitru, 49, were sentenced Monday for the 2021 plot which saw them book a 14-course meal from the Atrio hotel in the Spanish city of Cáceres, per local media.

According to Spain’s El País, the theft took place on October 27, 2021, and was initially successful.

One of the bottles was from 1806 and was worth around $330,000, according to police. Officers released security footage including a shot of Dumitru and Guevara leaving the hotel with the stolen wine.

They had visited the hotel three times in the summer, scoping out the location and planning their theft, the outlet wrote, citing a local court’s statement of facts.

On the day of the heist, Guevara checked into the Atrio with a faux Swiss passport, while Dumitru arrived as an unregistered guest, per El Pais.

The two defendants seen from a screen in the press room during an oral hearing of the trial for the theft of bottles from Atrio, at the Provincial Court, on 27 February, 2023 in Caceres, Extremadura, Spain. The trial for the theft in Atrio continues today with the testimony of the accused Constantin Dumitru and Priscila Guevara and witnesses. The prosecution is asking for four years and six months in prison for the two arrested for stealing 45 bottles of wine from the wine cellar of the Atrio hotel restaurant.The two defendants seen from a screen in the press room during an oral hearing of the trial for the theft of bottles from Atrio, at the Provincial Court, on 27 February, 2023 in Caceres, Extremadura, Spain. The trial for the theft in Atrio continues today with the testimony of the accused Constantin Dumitru and Priscila Guevara and witnesses. The prosecution is asking for four years and six months in prison for the two arrested for stealing 45 bottles of wine from the wine cellar of the Atrio hotel restaurant.

The two defendants seen from a screen in the press room during an oral hearing of the trial for the theft of bottles from Atrio, at the Provincial Court, on 27 February, 2023 in Caceres, Extremadura, Spain.Carlos Criado/Europa Press via Getty Images)

That evening, the couple ordered a 14-course meal at the hotel’s Michelin-star restaurant, and then were led on a guided tour of the wine cellar, per the outlet.

After they returned to their rooms, Guevara called room service to order a salad at 2 a.m. to distract the receptionist, who was alone on night shift, per El País.

The receptionist refused to leave his post at first, wondering why Guevara wanted to eat a salad when she had just finished a 14-course meal, the outlet reported. But he accepted Guevara’s request eventually, it said, leaving his desk for 20 minutes, which gave Dumitru time to steal the keycard to the wine cellar.

But Dumitru later realized he stole the wrong key, and had to call Guevara to distract the receptionist again, per The Guardian, citing court statements.

“Moments later, the woman again called the front desk, this time asking for a dessert. After initially objecting, the employee finally agreed to bring her some fruit,” the court statement said, per the outlet.

General view of wine bottles at Restaurante Atrio wine cellar in Caceres, Spain January 16, 2011.General view of wine bottles at Restaurante Atrio wine cellar in Caceres, Spain January 16, 2011.

General view of wine bottles at Restaurante Atrio wine cellar in Caceres, Spain January 16, 2011.Carles Allende/Restaurante Atrio/ Handout via REUTERS

Dumitru snagged the right keycard this time and entered the cellar, stuffing 45 bottles into a backpack and two duffels, El País reported.

Dumitru then went back up to the couple’s hotel room. They left the before dawn next morning, lining their bags with towels so the glass wouldn’t clink, according to El Pais.

Days later, the Atrio’s owners realized the wine was stolen and reported the theft to the police.

“They were professionals, they knew exactly what they were doing,” wrote José Polo, one of the owners of Atrio, at the time.

Nine months after the heist, Guevara and Dumitru were arrested some 1,300 miles away in Croatia, near the border to Montenegro, wrote El País. They were returned to Spain to stand trial.

The wines were never recovered, but the pair was ordered by the court to pay $800,000 in damages to insurers, per The Guardian.

Guevara was given four years in prison, while Dumitru was sentenced to four and a half. Both pleaded not guilty, and their sentences can be appealed, per El Pais.

As for the restaurant at Atrio, the stolen wines were insured, and the establishment has won its third Michelin star since the heist.

The Cáceres public prosecutor’s office and a lawyer for Dumitru did not immediately respond to Insider’s requests for comment.

Read the original article on Insider

[ad_2]

Source link

By admin

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *