10708 The dangers of travelling with banknotes

An interesting story about the dangers of banknotes in your knickers in today's Ligurian regional paper. Of course there is often a presence at the border with France, at tunnels and motorway exits.

[SIZE="4"][SIZE="3"]Nascondeva denaro negli slip, fermata alla frontiera[/SIZE]
[/SIZE]18 ottobre 2008

I finanzieri hanno scoperto che nascondeva in un paio di slip 273.000 euro, divisi in banconote da 500 e 200 euro. Una donna genovese di 46 anni è stata multata ieri alla frontiera con la Francia per traffico di valuta.

La donna, fermata mentre su un fuoristrada Land Rover passava alla barriera autostradale di Ventimiglia diretta in Francia, è accusata di traffico di valuta in base alla norma che consente di trasferire liberamente all’estero contante per un importo non superiore ai 10.000 euro. Per importi superiori c’è l’obbligo di dichiarazione dell’esportazione. I militari hanno sequestrato il 40% della somma eccedente i 10.000 euro, per un totale di 105.200 euro. A quanto si apprende, la donna è stata tradita dal nervosismo mostrato durante un normale controllo. I finanzieri hanno deciso un’ispezione e hanno chiesto la collaborazione di una agente della Polizia di Stato che ha trovato il denaro nascosto nelle mutandine, indossate su un perizoma. Sono in corso indagini per scoprire da dove arrivi il denaro.

Category
Legal

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 10/18/2008 - 19:03

I bet she [I]was[/I] showing nervousness...:yes:
It had to be that [U]or[/U] she was built like a photo model.... that would have been about what it would have needed for Italian Customs officers (on the 'exit' side of the frontier) to stop their private conversations and not just wave a vehicle through without - as is usual - so much as a cursory glance!

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 10/19/2008 - 07:04

Perhaps what the border guards thought was nervousness was actually just discomfort; I doubt many people would sit easily if they had six hundred or so €200 and €500 banknotes stuffed in their underwear.

I'd also be interested to know what she intended to do with all those large denomination banknotes. In my experience, many shops look askance at €100 notes, so I imagine they'd flatly refuse to accept a €500 note. Was she planning on depositing it in a bank account? If so, surely that defeats the whole purpose of sneaking the money across the border in that it would once again be traceable by the tax authorities and police?

Al

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 10/19/2008 - 09:07

[quote=AllanMason;99702]
I'd also be interested to know what she intended to do with all those large denomination banknotes.... Was she planning on depositing it in a bank account? If so, surely that defeats the whole purpose of sneaking the money across the border in that it would once again be traceable by the tax authorities and police?
Al[/quote]

She could probably have put the money into a Monaco bank account (Monaco is only 20 minutes or so from Ventimiglia) and had her identity kept secret (but paying a withholding tax that would be passed onto Italy). Whether or not a Monaco bank would look askance at somebody coming in with such a large sum in banknotes to deposit, I am not fortunate enough to know.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 10/19/2008 - 10:58

Apparently there is joint training, language development etc between the french and italian officers. The french ones, I have read in newspaper stories, push on their italian comrades. Frontier swoops, particularly in drug trafficing, are regular front page items.