The owners of Atrio testify for the first time before the judge for the theft of wine bottles and value the mythical Château d'Yquem from 1806

• Extremadura A man with two arrest warrants and a miss, alleged perpetrators of the theft of 45 exclusive bottles from the cellar of the Atrio restaurant

• Arrest The National Police arrests in Croatia the two authors of the theft of 45 exclusive bottles from the cellar of the Atrio restaurant

restaurant and hotel

,

and

went for the first time this Wednesday to the Court of Instruction No. 4 of Cáceres to testify about the theft of the 45 bottles of wine that they stole from their exclusive cellar in the morning of October 27, 2021 and that have a value, according to the investigation, of more than 1.6 million euros.

A statement has also been taken from the receptionist who was working that night and who, like the owners, has answered questions from the judge investigating the case,

, and from the lawyers of the prosecution, which represents the wine insurance company, and the defense of the two detainees,

Both defendants,

and Priscila Lara Guevera, have been in provisional detention in the Cáceres prison since last August 4.

For tomorrow, Thursday, the other seven employees who worked in the restaurant and in the hotel that night and who could have had contact at some point during the night with the couple, such as the waiters or the director of the establishment, are scheduled to testify.

Her testimonial had been requested by the defendant's lawyer, who has stated today that she is "satisfied" with the speed with which the investigation phase is being carried out.

The lawyer has asked the witnesses about the possibility of being able to identify the two accused of the robbery at this time (both were wearing a mask and in the case of the woman with a wig at dawn of the robbery): "None of the witnesses has recognized", warned Sylvia Córdoba, while she has assured that she rules out asking the judge to order an identity parade because "there has been a lot of exposure in the press and the diligence would be flawed, it would be absurd".

In this sense, he added that "at that time they would not suspect anyone either, they deal with customers like anyone else in the room, and nothing particularly caught their attention", he explained about the witnesses, that in none of the cases They wanted to make statements to the media when leaving the courts.

Doubts about the value of the bottles

In addition, the defense lawyer has asked the owners of Atrio about the doubts that arise about the real value of the stolen bottles, for which they have considered requesting an expert opinion, in order to know what amount they would have to face. the defendants in a future civil liability if they are convicted: "They have told us that even now they could have a higher value due to the history they are having," said Córdoba, who highlighted the willingness of José Polo and Toño Pérez, " very kind" during their appearance, separately, and which has lasted approximately one hour in each of the cases: "They have given all the details they could", the lawyer has specified.

For Sylvia Córdoba, there is a specific number of bottles that are very difficult to value, because "it is the market, what one is willing to pay for them, it is very difficult to determine their value."

In this sense, the lawyer has asked the investigating judge to approve an expert opinion so that the owners of Atrio provide the restaurant's wine list, with the aim of determining the value of the wines.

According to the investigation, the stolen bottles are valued at 1,648,500 euros, which was also the amount that the insurer, Reale Seguros, through the mediation of the company Sánchez Castañón SL., of Zafra (Badajoz), paid to the owners of Atrio in March of this year.

Sentimental value

During the statement by the owners of Atrio, as specified by the defense attorney, both José Polo and Toño Pérez spoke of the "affection" they had for one of the stolen bottles, specifically a Château d'Yquem from 1806, valued at 350,000 euros, and "perhaps now it is worth more because of the history of the robbery," said Córdoba.

"What has caught my attention the most is the love they had for that bottle, not because of the economic value, which perhaps has already been compensated, but because of the sentimental value", the lawyer has indicated.

Since last August 4, the accused couple (the man of Romanian-Dutch nationality and the woman, Mexican) have been in the Cáceres prison, after having been extradited from Croatia, where they were detained at the Montenegrin border on July 18.

According to the lawyer, her defendants are "very bad" because of the media exposure to which they have been subjected, criticizing the publication of their names and photographs because she assures that at the moment "they are accused but not convicted".

In addition, he has specified that the woman, Priscila Lara Guevera (former Miss Earth of the State of Mexico in 2016) suffers from hypoglycemia and, as indicated, in the Cáceres prison she cannot follow the proper diet for her illness.

In this sense, she has assured that she will request again through an appeal before the

the release of their clients, denied last week, with the support of the Prosecutor's Office, by the Investigating Judge.

The two investigated are accused of a crime of robbery with force in an establishment open to the public with the possible concurrence of two specific aggravating circumstances, specifically, the high economic value and the cultural and artistic value of what was stolen, collected, in articles 235.1 , 235.5, 237, 238, 239, 241.1 and 241.4 of the Criminal Code, as specified on August 4 in the order of admission to provisional prison and communicated.

For the lawyer, her clients could face a prison sentence between two and six years, while they could also face civil liability for compensation because the bottles are still missing.

The alleged perpetrators were arrested at the

while traveling from

to

in the course of an international police operation after issuing the European arrest warrant by the Court of First Instance and Instruction number 4 of Cáceres, at the request of the National Police.

Both were identified by the agents who have carried out the investigation, mainly by the images of the security cameras, last January, three months after the crime was committed, due to the poor quality of the images, to which joined that their faces appeared at all times very covered.

Since then, they were tracked for six months in various European countries until their arrest in July when they were carrying a suitcase while driving a rental car and appeared to be going on vacation, according to their lawyer.

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