Revenue seizes over €50,000 at Dublin Airport

Yesterday (10/11/16), at Dublin Airport, Revenue officers seized over €50,000 denominated in euros and dollars.

In a joint operation with US Customs and Border Protection, four Irish males, aged between 50 and 18 years, who were departing to travel to New York were stopped and questioned, and amounts totalling more than €29,350 in euros and dollars were seized.

Separately, €20,650 was seized when two males, a Belgian national aged 40 years and a 34 year old Romanian, who arrived together on a flight from Amsterdam, were stopped and questioned following routine profiling.

Any quantity of cash in excess of €1,000 encountered by a Revenue Officer that is suspected to be the proceeds of, or intended for use in, criminal activity can be seized. Revenue seizes cash that is suspected to be directly or indirectly linked to criminality, in order to identify, target and tackle tax evasion, fraud, and money laundering.

This afternoon (11/11/16) in Dublin District Court, Judge Anthony Halpin granted three month detention orders in all six cases, to allow Revenue to investigate further. These investigations are ongoing.

The majority of people pay the right amount of tax and duty. If you know someone is evading tax or involved in smuggling, report it to Revenue. You can do this quickly, easily and confidentially using our secure online reporting form or by contacting our confidential free phone number 1800 295 295. For more information, see Reporting shadow economy activity/Tax Evasion.

Ends: 11/11/16

Additional Information

Revenue officers have powers under the Criminal Justice Act, 1994, and the Proceeds of Crime (Amendment) Act, 2005 to seize and detain cash suspected to be the proceeds of, or intended for use in, any criminal activity, at the point of import/export, or in the course of operations within the State.

In 2015, Revenue seized €1.6m. So far this year over €590k has been seized in 45 cases, and after follow-up Revenue investigations, the Courts have granted Orders of Forfeiture to the State in respect of €487k cash seized.