Travelling with cash - money laundring & asset seizure, § 12a ZollVG - Part 2: What to expect after a violation

Introduction

Have you entered or left Germany from a non-EU country and have carried too much cash or equivalent means of payment without registration? Or have you declared the cash and customs have nevertheless initiated a so-called clearing procedure? Then you can find out here how the procedure continues and what you can expect.¹

Are you planning to travel to a non-EU country and are wondering what you need to consider? Then you will find basic tips and advice on declaring cash and equivalent means of payment here. You can find out what happens after the seizure  in Part 3 of  our legal tips series.

My money has been seized, what can I do?

Many of those affected wonder what they can do if the customs authorities take cash away from them. From the point of view of the defence lawyer, a distinction must be made here.

Have you declared the cash correctly?

If you have declared the cash correctly, you have first of all fulfilled the requirements of the Customs Administration Act. If customs nevertheless seize the cash, this means that the information you have provided is not believed and it is assumed, for example, that the cash was brought for the purpose of money laundering, Section 12a (7) sentence 1 no. 3 lit. a) ZollVG. This now results in the following problem:

While you do not have to provide information in administrative offence or criminal proceedings with which you incriminate yourself, customs may require you to submit suitable documents to prove the origin, beneficial owner and intended use of the cash or equivalent means of payment under Section 12a (5) of the Customs Act. If you do not comply with this request, you are committing an administrative offence pursuant to Section 31a (1) No. 1 (b) ZollVG, which can be punished with a fine of up to EUR 50,000.00.

a) Should I provide information?

The question of whether you should participate in the procedure and provide information cannot be answered in a general way. In general, you are faced with the following problem with this question:

If you submit further declarations beyond the information already provided in the declaration, you must be aware that these will not only be specifically questioned by customs, but that you may also provide further investigative approaches. It should not be ignored that the Hamburg Regional Court, for example, is of the opinion that cash payments are highly suspicious in the age of electronic payment transactions and "bear the stamp of cover-up and concealment of the origin of this money on its forehead". So you are already in a situation where you are not trusted very much. If your additional information is not complete or cannot be verified by customs, you run the risk that this will be judged against you.