Dolores Aveiro, the mother of Portuguese footballing legend Cristiano Ronaldo, was stopped at Madrid’s Barajas airport and found to be carrying €55,000 in cash in her hand luggage.
Spain’s money laundering regulations state that the maximum travellers are allowed to take out of Spain without making a declaration is just €10,000.
The 60-year-old Sra Aveiro, who works as a professional cook, often stays with her high earning son at his mansion near Madrid and was about to fly home to Portugal when airport police searched her hand luggage and discovered the money.
Sra Aveiro could not provide police with the necessary declaration form so the money in excess of €10,000 was confiscated. She then was allowed to fly with a measly €10,000 left in her handbag.
Sra Aveiro can expect a fine of at least €600 for attempting to export cash without the correct documentation but at least then she will get her spending money back.
Cristiano Ronaldo earned an estimated €70 million last year at Real Madrid where he is under a 5-year contract worth more than $200 million which ends in 2018.
Comments
Of course by filling out a control form when moving cash around, the government now knows what we are up to.
It is the same with bank transfers of over €10,000 - the Bank of Portugal gets a list of any such movements which presumably is passed directly to Financas for further action, unless the recipient or sender is on the VIP Taxpayers List of course....
I cannot see any sense in this type of control.