EXCLUSIVE – Pictured: Newlywed couple who left their lavish Italian wedding reception for 80 guests without paying the £7,000 bill and fled the country – as restaurant owner says he could now go bankrupt

This is the first photo of a couple who fled their lavish Italian wedding reception, leaving the owner with an outstanding bill of £7,000.

Moreno Priorietti and Andrae Svenja went for a run after getting married last August at the exclusive seafood restaurant, where they enjoyed a banquet with 80 guests.

When the owner went to collect their bill, he was dismayed to discover that the couple had not only left town, but had fled the country – with their family in tow.

Now owner Enzo Fabrizi is determined to recover the unpaid bill. He tells MailOnline that if the couple does not send him what they owe, it could leave him bankrupt.

Lawyer Lugi Tozzi – who represents the owner of Ristorante La Rotonda where the reception was held in August – told MailOnline exclusively: ‘A formal complaint has been made to the local police.

‘The matter is now in their hands, and it would be in the couple’s best interests to hand themselves over to the authorities or, better yet, pay the outstanding debt.

‘My client is prepared to drop the action once the bill has been paid and thus avoid lengthy legal action.’

Mr Fabrizi told MailOnline: ‘We had correspondence with them up until a few weeks ago and they kept saying they would pay but then no money came.

‘After a while, the requests we sent them to pay the bill went unanswered and then I noticed that they had both deleted their profiles from Facebook.

‘For a small business like mine, €8,000 is a significant amount and I have to get this bill settled because I have to pay suppliers and other overheads.

“If it’s not sorted out quickly, this could put me out of business. I would like to stop the legal action once I have paid, but I have received no response from them and have hired a lawyer.

‘All I know is that he was a friend of a friend and he worked locally as a mechanic and his wife is German but they have lived in Italy for a few years.

‘The last I heard was that they had gone to Germany, but I can’t trace them. Even the cell phone doesn’t work anymore.’

The bride and groom, along with the groom’s parents, had visited Ristorante La Rotonda seven months before the big day and sampled the various menus on offer.

They opted for the fish, paid a deposit of 3,300 euros and agreed to pay the final bill – which, including the deposit, totaled 8,800 euros – after the wedding, with the deadline being the Wednesday after the event.

Initially everything went according to plan at the location in the hills near Boville Ernica. The couple happily exchanged vows in front of their friends and family in a civil ceremony led by a priest who came from Germany, Mr Fabrizi told the Italian government. Corriere della Sera newspaper.

The 80 guests enjoyed the seafood menu and drinks, leaving Rotonda’s restaurateur no reason to believe he would not be paid for his services.

However, Italian media report that Priorietti did not pay the day after the wedding – as he had agreed with the owner – and when Wednesday’s official deadline arrived, the newlyweds were nowhere to be seen.

Mr Fabrizi waited for Priorietti at the venue until late in the evening and even tried to call him but got no answer.

He was even able to track down the groom’s parents, who had attended the tasting earlier this year, but had received no response from them either.

After visiting the groom’s local address and speaking to neighbors, the owner discovered that the couple had not been heard from since the day after the wedding.

This prompted him to contact the local police, who were able to trace the couple’s movements from the wedding.

To his dismay, the owner was told that the couple had driven to Rome and flown to Frankfurt, Germany, after the party.

Officials suspect they were on their way to visit Svenja’s family.

“It has never happened in many years of doing business that at most one person was late, but it has never happened that the spouses disappeared without paying the bill for the wedding banquet,” Mr. Fabrizi said. Corriere della Sera newspaper.

He told reporters that he was introduced to Priorietti by a friend he had known for 20 years, who often came to eat at the restaurant, and claimed that 25-year-old Svenja was the groom’s third wife.

“I trusted because my friend always kept his word,” he said. ‘A serious person.

‘He reassured me by saying that the bride’s father works at a bank in Germany. In short, it’s a wealthy family.’

Mr Fabrizi said the banquet cost the couple about 90 euros per person, and that the total bill of 8,800 euros also included decorations, such as flowers, and other extras.

“Immediately after (the ceremony) the guests, almost all from Ferentino and about a dozen Germans, sat down and lunch began,” he said. ‘They ate, danced and drank to their heart’s content. They left at ten o’clock at night, but almost all of them were drunk.’

The owner said he spoke with Priorietti and invited him to his office to discuss finances.

“We did the calculations and he shook my hand and said he would come by the next day to pay,” he said. ‘The next day, however, he took a plane to Germany.’

Mr Fabrizi told Corriere Della Sera that he is determined to get the money he is owed for the lavish banquet.

‘I will not give him peace until he pays every cent. “I have been a restaurateur for 40 years and I have never experienced such a setback,” he said.

‘My lawyer will ensure that he is blocked and I hope that as soon as he sets foot in Italy again, his passport will be revoked immediately.

“And to think he told me he would tip the waiters too.”

Local reports say police are investigating the couple’s whereabouts, and Priorietti is now wanted for fraudulent bankruptcy.