Arnold Schwarzenegger was stopped for hours by customs at Munich Airport after getting into Germany with a luxurious watch that was probably to be auctioned at a charity occasion.
The previous film star and California governor was stopped for a routine examine after arriving Wednesday (Jan 17), customs spokesperson Thomas Meister mentioned. Schwarzenegger was in a position to go away after about two and a half hours, he mentioned on Thursday.
Items over the worth of 430 euros (US$467) that may keep within the European Union should be declared and, the place acceptable, responsibility paid on them. German day by day Bild, which first reported on the incident, reported that the allegedly undeclared watch made by Swiss producer Audemars Piguet was valued at about 20,000 euros (US$21,739) by Schwarzenegger, for whom it was specifically produced.
The Schwarzenegger Local weather Initiative mentioned that Schwarzenegger was detained “for travelling with a watch he owns, that he may be auctioning at his charity public sale (Thursday) in Kitzbuehel”, in neighbouring Austria.
It added in an emailed assertion that Schwarzenegger “cooperated at each step regardless that it was an incompetent shakedown” and that he agreed to “prepay potential taxes on the watch (bear in mind, it’s his private watch)”.
It mentioned that the watch was nonetheless prone to be auctioned and the local weather initiative “will correctly report it, as all of Arnold’s nonprofits do”. Schwarzenegger’s charity auctions increase thousands and thousands of {dollars} yearly for after-school programmes for youngsters throughout the US and environmental work all over the world, it added.
The matter now goes to a customs penalty physique in Augsburg, which can consider the case.