BEIJING: A Chinese national who attempted to fly home from Italy with a whopping 90,000 euros in cash was detained at Catania International Airport earlier this month after lying on her customs declaration.
According to a NetEase, the woman initially declared that she was only carrying 12,000 Euros in cash, but after appearing visibly nervous while passing through customs, the authorities decided to investigate
Several officers at the Sicilian airport took her aside and carried out a thorough check of her luggage. More than 90,000 euros were found hidden in plastic wrappers and hidden deep within her bags. Italian authorities ultimately confiscated 40,048 Euros, half of what she had attempted to smuggle back to China.
The woman was identified as a boss of a leather products company during the course of the investigation. Officers became suspicious after it became apparent that her business should not generate such a large amount of cash.
The local tax officers are now launching an investigation to determine whether or not she is involved in other crimes such as money laundering or tax evasion.
A few months ago, a Korean man who won 13 million HKD while gambling in Macao had seven million in cash confiscated after reaching airport customs. The case marks the largest violation of its kind at Macau’s airport this year.
