Any amount of money that exceeds 10,000 euros must be declared before leaving the country
Agents of the Badajoz Civil Guard have arrested a driver who was trying to cross from Spain to Portugal with 94,000 euros in cash inside the car. The amount exceeds that allowed by Law 10/2010 on economic transactions abroad and money laundering with which it constitutes a crime.
Members of the Tax and Border Patrol of the Badajoz Civil Guard who were serving on the BA-20 highway, in the border area between Spain and Portugal, stopped a vehicle with a Portuguese license plate. Two people were traveling inside, from whom both personal and car documentation was requested.
During the visual inspection, the agents found two backpacks and asked the owners to open them to check what they had inside. The surprise was that they were full of 500, 200, 100, 50, 20 and 10 euro bills that, in total, added up to 93,990 euros.
When asked about the origin of such an amount of money, the driver and passenger explained that it was the result of business carried out in their town of residence, in Valenca (Portugal) and that they were unaware that to remove such an amount of money from Spain they must have made some previous procedures.
Maximum, 10,000 euros
Sources from the Benemérita explain that in accordance with the Legal Regime of Capital Movements and Foreign Economic Transactions and Prevention of Money Laundering, the “exit or entry into the national territory of means of payment for an amount equal to or greater than to 10,000 euros per person and trip, must be declared prior to movement”.
Given that ignorance of the Law does not exempt from its compliance, the agents proceeded to withdraw the money that is deposited in the Bank of Spain while waiting for the owners to prove that its origin is legal. This without prejudice to the open disciplinary file.
