Monaco’s correctional court has sentenced two Argentine men in their thirties, identified as Ugo and Gabriel, to four years in prison each following a violent watch theft on Port Hercule, alongside a ten-year ban from setting foot in the Principality once released, Monaco-Matin reports.
The pair appeared before the court on Friday, July 24, roughly a week after being arrested and detained by Monaco’s Public Security Department. Presiding judge Florestan Bellinzona opened proceedings by noting that the case could have unfolded very differently had certain aggravating circumstances been formally applied, since the incident, as described, involved violence rather than a simple theft, a distinction that under Monegasque law could have carried a sentence of ten to twenty years.
According to the account given in court, the victim, a well-known influencer in the Principality, had been dining at a restaurant on the port with his family, including his five-year-old daughter, on the evening of Friday, July 17. As the group made their way back afterward, one of the defendants approached and knocked the victim to the ground before tearing a luxury watch from his wrist, a Patek Philippe estimated to be worth around €120,000.
Investigators were able to identify and arrest the suspects quickly using surveillance footage from around the Principality, later recovering the watch concealed on one of the men. The footage reportedly showed one of the pair running to meet an accomplice on a scooter near Place Sainte-Dévote, having changed clothing multiple times beforehand, with the scooter itself found to have been rented in France.
One of the defendants told the court the theft had been a spur-of-the-moment decision rather than something planned, insisting he had no particular knowledge of watches. The court appeared skeptical of that account, pointing out the value of the watch involved. The judge outlined several elements he said pointed toward premeditation, including the time taken to change clothes, coordinate a meeting point, and conduct reconnaissance beforehand, arguing the sequence of events did not resemble an impulsive act. The victim himself described the crime as carried out with a notable degree of professionalism. The court also raised questions about the two men’s presence in Europe, and specifically Italy, over the preceding two months, which the defendants attributed to work-related reasons, an explanation the court did not appear to find fully convincing.
The lawyer representing one of the defendants pushed back against the premeditation argument, urging leniency given her client’s immediate acknowledgment of the offence and what she described as his secondary role, having driven the scooter rather than carried out the theft itself. She noted that several character references had been submitted from Argentina and argued the case represented a crime of opportunity rather than a planned operation.
In his closing submissions, the deputy public prosecutor condemned the extreme violence of the act, given it took place during a quiet family moment, and highlighted the traumatic impact on both the victim and his young daughter. The victim, described as visibly shaken by the experience, called for the maximum sentence of five years. The prosecutor’s own request stopped short of that, seeking four years in prison alongside a ten-year ban from the Principality.
One of the defence lawyers criticised the scale of the prosecution’s request, suggesting it appeared driven more by public opinion than by the specifics of the case, and separately raised concerns about the short notice given to the defence team in preparing for the hearing.
The court ultimately followed the prosecutor’s recommendation, sentencing both men to four years in prison, banning them from Monaco for ten years following their release, and ordering them to pay €4,000 in damages to the victim, who had joined the case as a civil party. The defence is reportedly considering whether to appeal the ruling.