Visitor fined €11,000 over undeclared cash

A visitor from Aruba will leave Malta some €11,000 lighter after he was found guilty of failing to declare the large amount of cash he was carrying.

Kevin Jethro Thiel, 31, was arraigned before magistrate Francesco Depasquale by Inspector Jonathan Ransley this afternoon, accused of failing to inform customs officials that he was carrying €18,870 in cash upon his arrival on 11 October.

Under Subsidiary Legislation 233.07 (Cash Controls Regulation), it is a requirement to declare all amounts of cash over €10,000 to Customs upon arrival.

Thiel’s lawyer, Joe Giglio explained to the court that the man had been under the impression that the law in question only applied to non-Schengen countries. “It’s a technical offence that many don’t realise exist, unfortunately,” Giglio said.

The accused entered a guilty plea.

The court, in view of this, fined him 25% of the sum in excess of €10,000 and confiscated the excess.

A total of €11,087 was seized.