On Wednesday, the court sentenced 48-year-old Konstantin Gabriel Dumitru to one year in prison, plus 3,720 euros in damages for Lavinia, allegedly the best gourmet restaurant in Madrid where he stole the bottle in May 2019, and 1,529 euros for the insurance company. This amount, 5,249 euros, is added to the price of a stolen bottle of balvini whiskey: 5,250 euros. The public prosecutor has demanded the same compensation but also an 18-month prison sentence, according to Spanish media.

In issuing its ruling, the court took into account the aggravating circumstances that there was another lawsuit pending against forty people for stealing a bottle of exclusive wine from the most famous winery in the French region of Burgundy: Romanée-Conti. A Dutch-Romanian wine aficionado is said to have stolen a bottle worth at least €12,000 in 2019 from a duty-free shop at Geneva Airport, Switzerland. Reportedly, unnecessary delays during the Madrid trial, for which Dumitru was not responsible El Mundo A mitigating factor in determining the penalty.

Both Dumitru and his lawyer denied the theft of a bottle of whiskey during the trial in the Spanish capital. According to his lawyer, the surveillance photos on the basis of which the forty-year-old was convicted were not conclusive evidence. “All you see is a hand – which could be my client because he was a regular at the store – taking the bottle of whiskey in question off the shelf,” she told the newspaper. According to her, the video images do not show that the person who takes the bottle is also taking it. This was not reflected in the recordings of my client’s departure. The existence of the whiskey bottle (which was not recovered) has not been substantiated and there is no other evidence.”

The court ruled that there was sufficient evidence against Dumitru. A gourmet store manager recognized him when he returned to the store three months after the theft in disbelief. Video from the day of the robbery, May 7, 2019, shows that despite the spring weather, the 40-year-old entered the store wearing a wool hat and long-sleeved shirt. While the store employee gave him an explanation, he turned the security camera around to avoid being recognized. The following photos “clearly” show how a person wearing the same shirt as the suspect took the bottle in question, according to the court.

Croatian border guards arrested Domitru in mid-July when he tried to cross the border from Montenegro with his partner, 29-year-old Mexican Priscilla Lara Guevara. became the two It was delivered to Spain. They are accused of theft 45 exclusive bottles of wine From the two Michelin star restaurant in Caceres, at the end of October last year. The two were charged with forcible theft in an establishment open to the public, whether or not in conjunction with two specific aggravating cases: the high economic value and the cultural and artistic value of the wine they stole.

Of the 45 stolen bottles, the extremely rare Château d’Yquem from 1806 is one of the world’s most unusual wines. The bottle was on the wine list for 310 thousand euros, but according to experts, it is invaluable because the bottle has been part of the 215-year history of Spanish gastronomy.