If there is one case that has attracted media attention in Cáceres in recent years, it is Millionaire robbery by Atrio. The incident made headlines in the world press, from its occurrence on an October morning in 2021 to its journey through the courts through an investigation that was unusual for its agility. With the main defendants in prison, who have already been convicted in the third-instance court, the case will end in the courts this January, at least after the overwhelming decision of the Supreme Court confirming the conviction of Priscila Lara Guevara and Constantin Dumitru. If the journey of the case is analyzed with a scenario that can be used as a movie, the series can be divided into four main parts.
Theft of 45 luxury bottles from the winery
The first episode that triggered everything happened It is the early morning hours of October 27, 2021.The owners of the luxury hotel reported the incident on the morning of the 28th after noticing 45 bottles missing from the winery; This includes the jewel in the crown, the coveted Chateau d’Yquem from 1806, valued at €310,000. Its owners had bought it at an auction in London many years ago, and it had a special story as it broke in transit and had to be re-bottled. The hypothesis initially put forward by the hotel owners and later pursued was that the perpetrators of the robbery were two people who had stayed at the hotel the night before and left the hotel in a hurry early in the morning. “Someone reserved the room, had dinner with someone else who came later, and at dawn they ordered something to eat from the kitchen.” These were the foundations on which the investigation was based. The bottles disappeared without causing any controversy as the thieves took advantage of the calm of the night shift.
Arrest of two suspects in Croatia
Since the robbery occurred, the Judicial Police has launched an investigation, firstly to clarify the incident and search for the perpetrators, and secondly. He knows the location of 45 luxury bottles, The biggest thing yet unknown. The first of the circumstances led to the arrest of two people, Constantin Dumitru and Lara Priscila Guevara, six months later, in July 2022. They were both captured in a joint Interpol operation when they crossed the border into Croatia by car. . . Police sources arrested them as they were prime suspects after tracking their movements for six months. In fact, Dumitru was accused of stealing a bottle of whiskey from a gourmet store in Madrid and had a criminal record. Priscilla, no.
There is a media history dedicated solely to beauty pageants. Both were transferred to Spain. First to Madrid. Later, at the request of the judge, Cáceres to question them. They testified at the city’s courthouse in August of the same year. After he testified, the judge decided to sentence him to prison because he deemed him a high risk of flight. The statement had already generated a lot of media interest due to the high value of the bottles and the unusual nature of the robbery at a luxury hotel. The situation also attracted media attention, with both of them hiring lawyer Sylvia Córdoba, a well-known criminal lawyer from Madrid, to defend them. That summer, the hotel owners themselves (Toño Pérez ultimately did not testify, claiming he was at a fair) and all hotel employees, even those on shift the night of the incident, were marched in for questioning as witnesses.
The most media case in court
If there’s one thing that stands out about the case, it’s how nimbly it was developed, given the size of the investigation. Only seven months passed from the arrest of Dumitru and Priscila to the trial. During this time, their lawyers tried unsuccessfully to get them out of prison, but all requests were rejected by the court. Finally, in March 2023, the trial took place in Cáceres, against excessive expectations that led to the establishment of a special room for the press. The hearing, where the defendants, witnesses and experts were questioned, lasted several days. The defendant claimed his innocence, and his lawyers always maintained that there was no conclusive evidence against their client and that the accusations were based on speculation. He claimed they were on holiday and touring Europe. Witnesses and experts placed them at the robbery scene. Finally, The Cáceres Provincial Court sentenced them to four and a half years in prison for robbery. They are both serving one-and-a-half-year prison sentences in January.
From TSJEx’s appeal to the Supreme Court’s final decision
His defense initially challenged the decision before the High Court of Justice of Extremadura, which upheld the Tribunal’s decision. He appealed once again to the Supreme Court, which ruled recently, and once again agreed with the courts. The high court’s decision confirms that both of them stayed at the hotel, had dinner there and wanted to eat something at night. So, taking advantage of the distraction in the kitchen, Dumitru entered the pantry and took the bottles. Now facing a scenario where its end is near, at least in the courts, the big question of the media trial remains on the table: Where are the bottles? This question remains unanswered for now.