The Central Customs Authority in Germany reported the arrest of a Thai woman at Frankfurt Airport on suspicion of money laundering. The woman is still being questioned by German authorities.

 

According to a report on the official German Customs Authority website, officers at the Frankfurt Airport security checkpoint detained the Thai woman, aged about 50, on suspicion of money laundering before she boarded a flight to an unnamed Bangkok airport on October 10.

 

Officers searched her luggage and handbag and discovered two empty purses and later found 101,119 euros (3.9 million baht), hidden inside the lining of the purses.

 

The woman is suspected of laundering money for an illegal business and remains in police custody for questioning. The reported interrogation has not yet been made public.

 

According to local law, travellers from outside the country who carry more than 10,000 euros in cash must declare it to officials at the airport. In essence, even if the woman manages to prove her innocence, she would still be charged with violating the money laundering law.

 

By Petch Petpailin

Caption: Photo via Central Customs Authority in Germany

 

Full story: The Thaiger 2023-10-26

 

- Cigna offers a range of visa-compliant plans that meet the minimum requirement of medical treatment, including COVID-19, up to THB 3m. For more information on all expat health insurance plans click here.

 

Get our Daily Newsletter - Click HERE to subscribe

Even with 9990 Euros,  the authorities at the airport can challenge within the European borders and ask to justify the origin of the funds.

 

In case of transit through another country, it is always a good idea to check the local currency rules at the airport hub of transit.

 

People can get trapped by respecting the regulation at the port of embarkment but end up violating a cash regulation specific of the transit port of arrival.

 

Same with luggage. One can have an allowance of say 30kgs on leaving. But in case of changing flights with another airline on the way, always check their specific allowances that often are not as generous as many US or European carriers - and even if one pays it may not be always possible to upgrade luggage allowance within the domestic carrier.

12 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

The Central Customs Authority in Germany reported the arrest of a Thai woman at Frankfurt Airport on suspicion of money laundering.

Not sure about the money laundering bit, maybe she was just tying to get the cash back to Thailand without declaring it to customs

she is going to find out what real authority is. pretty germans don't accept a wai and 500 baht as punishment for a crime. 

 

stay tuned. 

42 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

Not sure about the money laundering bit, maybe she was just tying to get the cash back to Thailand without declaring it to customs

I suspect tax was not paid on it... at least. 

Cash in hand work...masssage, hairdressing, probably claiming benefits there too. 

If she could show a withdrawal bank statement she's in with a chance, otherwise the whole lot will be confiscated. strange that customs went to such extraordinary lengths for this woman, possibly a tip off.

13 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

hidden inside the lining of the purses

 

That was a dumb move, making it impossible to claim accidentally forgetting to declare the cash. She will probably be given the maximum fine possible.

1 hour ago, hotchilli said:

Not sure about the money laundering bit, maybe she was just tying to get the cash back to Thailand without declaring it to customs

 

What Thai doesn't have 100,000 euro in cash laying about. 

Edited October 27, 20232 yr by JeffersLos

25 minutes ago, soalbundy said:

If she could show a withdrawal bank statement she's in with a chance, otherwise the whole lot will be confiscated. strange that customs went to such extraordinary lengths for this woman, possibly a tip off.

It wasn't mentioned but sniffer dogs are good at this.....

2 hours ago, hotchilli said:

Not sure about the money laundering bit, maybe she was just tying to get the cash back to Thailand without declaring it to customs

Ah - now I understand next year's plan to tax ex-pat pensions.

1 hour ago, jacko45k said:

It wasn't mentioned but sniffer dogs are good at this.....

 

Another reason to hate dogs 😁

1 hour ago, soalbundy said:

If she could show a withdrawal bank statement she's in with a chance, otherwise the whole lot will be confiscated. strange that customs went to such extraordinary lengths for this woman, possibly a tip off.

Customs dogs are trained to sniff cash

If the money was legally obtained it would be easy to prove, but she'd still face a fine. 

If the money was illegally obtained, she's guilty of money laundering & failure to declare it with customs.

Since there are no flights from Germany to DMK I will reveal the unnamed secret airport as Swampy.

Edited October 27, 20232 yr by circa02

2 hours ago, soalbundy said:

If she could show a withdrawal bank statement she's in with a chance, otherwise the whole lot will be confiscated. strange that customs went to such extraordinary lengths for this woman, possibly a tip off.

Don't know about Germany but the UK have dogs that can smell cash. Here the RTP don't need dogs 

28 minutes ago, JoseThailand said:

Customs dogs are trained to sniff cash

I agree, but sniffing cash hidden in the lining of a wallet? Wallets are where money is kept so a dog will react to a wallet which should make an officer dismiss the dogs reaction but no, they tear the wallet apart.

21 minutes ago, brianthainess said:

Don't know about Germany but the UK have dogs that can smell cash. Here the RTP don't need dogs 

My wife can smell cash a mile away

Idiot, she should have put some cash in the wallet, 

36 minutes ago, soalbundy said:

I agree, but sniffing cash hidden in the lining of a wallet? Wallets are where money is kept so a dog will react to a wallet which should make an officer dismiss the dogs reaction but no, they tear the wallet apart.

100,000 Euros in the lining of a wallet? That would be 1000 banknotes. Quite a pile

1 hour ago, brianthainess said:

Don't know about Germany but the UK have dogs that can smell cash. Here the RTP don't need dogs 

Don't know about Germany but the UK has people that can smell cash.😁

1 hour ago, JoseThailand said:

100,000 Euros in the lining of a wallet? That would be 1000 banknotes. Quite a pile

Most were found in the suitcase but the picture shows them also cutting open the wallet where additional money was found which I found extraordinarily thorough unless they knew it was there. The German customs aren't monsters, i remember an instance many years ago of a humerous pi$$ taking German rep of my company returning from Thailand with several boxes of cigars, he duly declared these to customs, they weren't a well known Thai brand and the customs lady balked at the idea of searching through huge lists to determine the minuscule amount of tax to be paid, she said she would let it go but he insisted, "I don't want to cheat the German customs and excise", so the poor lady spent another 15 minutes going through records to eventually charge him 5 Euros, then with a smile he produced 4 packets of Thai pipe tobacco whose brand name was written in Thai, "Oh I forgot about these", "please, just leave", "But the tax dear lady", "Just leave before you produce something else."

Around one hundred 500 Euro notes in each purse lining? 🤔

Is it € 10 000:-? I thought it is $ 20 000.:-

From the Thai Embassy in London: Any person who brings or takes an aggregate amount of foreign currency exceeding USD20,000 or its equivalent out of or into Thailand shall declare such amount of foreign currency to a Customs Officer.

 

The Thai Embassy in Bern states $ 15.000.-

Very confusing...

Imagine her chagrin when she discovered she couldn’t simply break the IO off a piece and continue on her merry way. 😂

On 10/27/2023 at 11:56 AM, Andrew65 said:

Don't know about Germany but the UK has people that can smell cash.😁

In Australia we have dogs 

On 10/27/2023 at 2:54 AM, proton said:

 

Another reason to hate dogs 😁

Some guys don't like cats, but at least cats don't tell the cops where your stash is!😀

On 10/27/2023 at 10:08 AM, JoseThailand said:

Customs dogs are trained to sniff cash

Yes, and it takes a long time to train them which cost a lot of money. And I am glad they have them. They can sniff drugs plants food money and even phones as I have seen on the news. A lot of Asian people arrive in Australia or other countries with a suitcase full of food which are not allowed and don't get me started on drugs. And where does she get over 100.000 Euros from, I like to know.