Heist Gone Wrong Couples To Serve 4 years For Stealing Wine WorthKsh.297M.

Post by : Hillary Musyoki

When one hears of a heist they expects either gold, or lots of money but not alcohol.

A couple has been sentenced to serve four year in prison for stealing wine worth $1.7m from a Michelin-stared Spanish restaurant.

The woman Mexican and her Romanian Dutch boyfriend left the famed restaurant Atrio in Caceres, carrying 45 bottles of wine wrapped in towel to avoid breakage, and hidden in travel bags, according to the court ruling.

The ‘heist’ took place on October27, 2021, and was planned in ‘minute detail,’ officers said .

Photo// Couple sentenced to four years for stealing wine. Photo Courtesy

The best wines are the ones from long time in the 1800’s, the couple knew there picks, in the haul it included two bottles from the French winery Chateau d’Yquem-one was from 1806 that was listed on the restaurants menu for9$371,000) and the other from 1883 for$45,000. Many of the stolen wines were from renowned wineries , vintage in the 1990’s and 2000’s, according to details listed by the three panel judges.

Heist planned

The Couple had visited the restaurant three times in the months of the ‘heist’. on the night of the theft, the woman checked in in a nearby hotel near the restaurant using a fake swiss passport.

Her boyfriend joined her later but he did not check in. They then had a 14-course meal at the restaurant , followed by a tour at the wine cellar, it was said in the court.

Photo// Atrio-wine-cellar, where the couple stole the expensive wines. Photo Courtesy

At about 2a.m, the woman called the front desk, requesting a salad from room service, and later a dessert. The clerk who was alone in the hotel, finally agreed to the orders, leaving the front desk unmanned. It was during this time that the woman’s boyfriend stole an electronic key from the front desk to open the the wine cellar.

The couple left hotel with the stolen goods at about 5a.m and drove off, the court said. They finally arrested on the boarder of Montenegro and Croatia in July 2022, police said.

None of the wines were found, but the hotel was compensated with $753,000 from its insurance company.

The woman was sentenced to four years in prison and the man to four and a half years for armed robber. They were also ordered to pay $753,000 for damages.