Wine theft: Former beauty queen, partner sentenced for stealing 45 bottles worth $1.7 million

By Team Newsable | First Published Mar 7, 2023, 3:58 PM IST

The woman, who according to Spanish press reports is a former Mexican beauty queen, checked into the hotel using a fake Swiss passport, the court said. The court also ordered the pair -- who were arrested in July 2022 in Croatia -- to pay compensation of 753,454 euros to the hotel.

A Spanish judge sentenced a couple to prison for stealing 45 bottles of wine from a hotel that were worth over 1.6 million euros ($1.7 million) in what the police described as a "meticulously planned" theft.

One of the wines taken from the Atrio hotel in Caceres, southwest Spain, in October 2021 during the theft that made international news included a bottle of Chateau D'Yquem 1806, valued at 350,000 euros.

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Following their convictions for burglary with forced entrance, a Caceres judge sentenced the woman to four years in prison and the male to four and a half years.

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The court also mandated that the two, who were detained in Croatia in July 2022, pay the hotel 753,454 euros in damages. The woman, who the Spanish press claims was once a Mexican beauty queen, entered the hotel using a false Swiss visa, according to the judge.

The two were given a tour of the Atrio's famous wine cellar after eating in the hotel's Michelin three-star restaurant before going to their room. According to the court decision, the woman called the reception at 2 am and requested that the "sole staffer" who was on duty at the time prepare her a salad.

The employee initially refused the request due to the fact that he was alone and the fact that the couple had just finished a 14-course tasting menu, but he eventually gave in when she persisted.

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The man sneaked into reception while the employee was making the salad and took an electronic key that he believed would unlock the wine cellar but was actually the incorrect one.

The guy called his partner from outside the wine basement and instructed her once more to divert the secretary, so she placed a dessert order. Before the receptionist returned to his position, the man, who allegedly holds dual citizenship with the Netherlands and Romania, took the bottles to his room in a rucksack and two sizable bags.

When the couple was apprehended, Spain's National Police said in a statement that they had "meticulously planned" the theft and visited the eatery three times to get ready for the attack.

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