Former Romanian minister stopped at Munich airport with undeclared jewelry worth EUR 650,000

Romania's former economy minister Adriean Videanu and his wife were stopped at the Munich airport with EUR 650,000 worth of jewelry that they allegedly failed to declare. Among the jewelry found in their possession were a EUR 150,000 watch and a necklace worth nearly half a million euros.

The former minister told G4Media that he was inspected by a customs officer at the German airport after stating that he and his wife were “in transit from Switzerland to Romania."

The customs officer insisted that taxes and VAT needed to be paid in Germany, and until the full amounts were paid, the jewelry was held. Videanu said he paid the dues, but will be contesting the decision.

Videanu explained that the incident was "a misunderstanding caused by my lack of knowledge of EU legislation, which states that taxes for high-value goods brought from outside the EU must be paid in the first member state we enter, not in Romania, where I have my fiscal residency."

He added that the items in question were "a necklace for my wife and a watch, both purchased in Switzerland, still in their packaging, with all the corresponding invoices."

Adriean Videanu was one of the most influential leaders of the former PDL, the party of former president Traian Băsescu, the largest part of which was integrated into the National Liberal Party, or PNL. He served as the mayor of Bucharest for one term (2005-2008) and then as minister of economy. He is also credited as one of the architects of the introduction of the flat tax rate. At the moment he is no longer involved in politics.

Videanu was acquitted this year by a panel at the High Court of Cassation and Justice in a case opened by prosecutors within the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) in 2012 regarding the purchase of state-owned gas by businessman Ioan Niculae's company.

(Photo source: Inquam Photos | Ovidiu Micsik)