Sophie sniffed €48,750 in undeclared money at Malta Airport
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Maltese.
Customs Malta intercepted a total of €48,750 in undeclared cash at Malta International Airport with the help of one of her dogs, Sophie.
Sophie gave a positive reaction to two Syrian passengers en route to Lebanon, and searches confirmed that both were carrying undeclared cash exceeding the €10,000 limit.
One passenger was a little over this limit, with €10,419, and accepted the offer to settle out of court. But the other man, the 31-year-old ship captain Mohammad Bahlawan, was carrying the equivalent of €38,331 in various denominations: he was arrested and subsequently brought to Court.
While €10,000 was returned to him, the rest was provisionally confiscated.
Bahlawan admitted breaching cash control regulations at his court on Friday morning, and prosecuting inspector Christopher Ellul stressed he had co-operated fully during sentencing submissions. . The inspector also recognized that Bahlawan was on his first visit to Malta, and that he did not seem to be aware of the relevant regulations.
Bahlawan’s lawyer, Abigail Bugeja then explained that the cash represented six months of wages, and that her client could not send it to the banks in his homeland because such facilities did not exist in the country filled with war. She pointed out that the work contract and his payslips confirmed the provenance of the funds.
Bugeja therefore appealed for clemency for humanitarian reasons, pointing out that the court can impose a fine of 55% on the excess without confiscating the rest: Inspector Lianne Bonello subsequently clarified that the extra money should be provisionally confiscated for 30 days, so that the police can confirm. their provenance.
Consequently the Magistrate Nadine Lia gave a fine of 55% on the excess – amounting to €15,633 – while confirming that the excess was being provisionally confiscated according to the law. She emphasized that Bahlawan could subsequently apply to the court for the release of these funds.