A passenger who was travelling to Italy on Saturday evening, ended up in police custody and was ordered to pay a hefty fine after he was caught carrying over €40,000 in cash, well in excess of cash control regulations. Ghanaian national Victor Owusu, 31, was about to catch a flight to Bergamo when he was stopped at a customs checkpoint. During scanning, his hand luggage appeared to contain suspicious-looking packages. When asked about the contents of those packages, he said that they contained cash in euros but he had no idea how much. The packets were opened and the cash totalled €43,455. Owusu was taken to court on Monday, accused of breaching cash control regulations which impose a maximum limit of €10,000. Assisted by legal aid lawyer Christopher Chircop, Owusu pleaded guilty to having failed to declare to the Commissioner for Revenue that he was carrying cash in excess of €10,000. Magistrate Victor George Axiak fined him €18,451. Inspector Robert Azzopardi prosecuted.
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