Man jailed in Spain after selling 7,000 hams he stole at work

A man in Huelva, southern Spain, has been jailed for defrauding his employers of €520,000 (£439,000) after stealing and reselling 7,000 hams.< /p>

The man, who has not been named, stole the jamón from the drying warehouse where he worked for six years of 2007 to 2013. Although he was given a six-year sentence, it was reduced to 11 months and 29 days because the case took too long to come to trial.

The man was in charge of receiving the jamones and was responsible for them throughout the curing process. He then resold them using a courier service to deliver them to his customers.

Huelva is famous for its jamón de jabugo, the one of only a handful of them obtain the status of denominación de origen. Each of these hams , made from Pied-noir pigs fed exclusively on acorns for the last three months of their lives, can sell for upwards of €500.

More than 100 of them were among the 7,000 stolen by the man. His wife was also convicted on the grounds that she was his accomplice and the two were ordered to repay €529,900 to her former employer.