Naples, three bandits who robbed Neres sentenced to 6 years in prison

The three bandits who on the night of September 1st robbed Napoli footballer David Neres of his precious watch while he was taking a taxi to the hotel after the Azzurri's victory against Parma have each been sentenced to six years in prison.

They are Gianluca Cuomo, 30 years old, Giuseppe Vitale, 24, and Giuseppe Vecchione, 34, all residents of the Lauro district. They were also caught thanks to telephone interceptions for a different investigation that the Naples DDA was conducting, an investigation into Iadonisi clan which controls the illicit business in the area upstream from the Maradona stadium.

The three robbed the Brazilian footballer who was in a taxi with his wife. They pointed a gun at his face and took away the precious Patek Philippe model “5164-R” worth over 100 thousand euros. A watch that has never been found and is presumed to have been placed abroad.

“Mamma mia, what a monster… this is worth 100 potatoes (100 thousand euros)…”, these are the words intercepted by the carabinieri immediately after the robbery.

The three had just taken off the clothes (two of them were also without shoes) used for the robbery, with the complicity of the father of one of them, an employee of Asia, the company that deals with waste. The same conversation makes the investigators of the weapon understand who it was - Giuseppe Vitale - who made sure that Neres was actually on board the minivan.

“We've settled… I have to give you 120,130 thousand euros…”

From their conversations it is also clear that they are experts in luxury watches and how much they can earn by selling them: “We have settled… they should give us 120-130 thousand euros… we will take a scant (at least) 120 thousand euros”, they say.

Cuomo, in particular, asks his accomplices to check whether the Patek has the words “Tiffany & Co.” and “Geneve” written on it, which Giuseppe Vecchione is in charge of: and indeed it is a watch whose cost is close to 140 thousand euros.

According to the investigations conducted by the Carabinieri under the supervision of the judicial authority of Naples, the criminal action would have been planned in advance by the perpetrators.

The investigation also includes surveillance camera footage, which documented some phases of the raid. In particular, we see the moment in which a scooter with two robbers on board follows the footballer's minivan Neres.

However, the images do not capture the phases of the actual robbery, which occurs shortly after. Later, another camera captures a car in which, according to the police, the robbers have gathered, all in the same place. One of them took off his shoes to avoid being recognized.

Vecchione boasts of having also robbed Zuniga in 2014

Now we need to understand where the precious watch ended up and if it was placed then we are also looking for the receiver. And in the meantime, based on the wiretaps from which Giuseppe Vecchione boasts of having robbed in 2014 with the same technique the former Napoli footballer, the Colombian Camilo Zuniga, a new investigation has been opened against him.