POLICE have reportedly arrested two people, including Real Madrid legend Iker Casillas’ housekeeper, on suspicion of stealing five designer watches worth £175,000 from his home.
The unnamed woman is said to have tried to dupe the former Spain goalkeeper by substituting original timepieces for cheap imitations.
The other person cops have held, according to Spanish press, works as a security guard at the upmarket estate where the 44-year-old lives.
Casillas himself reportedly called in police after discovering the ruse before police set a trap for the suspect and arrested her after she fell for it.
Respected Telecinco TV show El Programa de Ana Rosa echoed reports on an online news portal called Pozuelo IN which covers the upmarket municipality of Pozuelo de Alarcon where Casillas lives: “Police have already handed the suspects over to the courts.
“They wanted the watches to sell them for parts. Iker is shocked by the great trust he had in those two people who worked in his home.”
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Pozuelo IN said: “The arrested individuals, who have already been brought before the courts in Pozuelo, devised a plan to steal the watches without arousing suspicion.
“They replaced the originals with cheap imitations. Among the stolen items are several gold Rolex watches valued at more than €50,000 [£43,500] each, although investigators do not rule out that the total value of the stolen goods may be much higher.
“The couple did not sell the watches as they were, but dismantled them to sell the parts separately, which made them difficult to trace.
“It was Casillas himself who, after noticing irregularities in some of his watches, one of his great hobbies, alerted the police and triggered an investigation that has culminated in the arrests.”
It added: “Casillas kept his collection in different rooms of his home, without a detailed inventory.
“His love of luxury watches is well known, and he has even collaborated on campaigns for specialist brands.
“Upon discovering the counterfeits, the former goalkeeper filed a complaint, and the police began discreetly monitoring his home environment.
“Suspicions soon fell on the employee, who knew exactly where the collection was located and how many items it contained.
“In a controlled operation, the officers prepared a trap that allowed them to confirm their suspicions.
“At the couple’s home, investigators found fragments of dismantled watches and parts matching models in Casillas’ collection.”
Police are understood to have taken statements from Casillas as well as his journalist ex-wife Sara Carbonero as part of their investigation.
The shot-stopper made 510 appearances during his 16 years with Real before signing for Porto and is widely regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in footballing history.
Police release footage
He announced his retirement from professional football in August 2020 following his May 2019 heart attack while he was training with Porto.
Confirming the arrests today, Spain’s National Police said: “The theft of five high-end watches from the home of a former professional footballer in Madrid was solved in less than 10 days.
“Two watches have been recovered and a married couple linked to the victim have been arrested as the alleged perpetrators of the crime.”
Cops released footage showing officers with Balaclavas over their faces to mask their identities escorting the male suspect to a waiting unmarked police car.
They also published images of the watches, mobile phones and cash seized during the operation.
It was not immediately clear if the timepieces were the ones stolen from Casillas or fake watches the couple had allegedly been preparing to put in the retired footballer’s home as substitutes.
Suspects released on bail
The woman held has been partly named locally as a Paraguayan national called Lilian, said to have been working for Casillas for five years.
The man, whose nationality is not known, has been named only as Juan.
They lived together in a third-floor flat police were spotted searching earlier this week. They were arrested on Tuesday.
The two suspects were back at their home today after being released on conditional bail following a court appearance.
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An investigating judge is heading an ongoing criminal probe and will decide once he completes his inquiry whether to formally charge them.
Casillas has not yet made any official comment.
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