Arnold Schwarzenegger was held by customs officers at Munich Airport in Germany over an undeclared luxury watch he had brought from the USA for a charity auction in Austria.
Watch It, Arnold! Schwarzenegger Detained In Munich Airport Over Luxury Timepiece
The Austrian-born actor lives in Southern California and had flown Lufthansa 453 from Los Angeles (LAX) to Munich (MUC). His final destination was Kitzbühel, Austria, where he would take part in the World Climate Summit.
In his possession was a rare Audemars Piguet watch. He was transporting it to Austria to give it away at a charity auction. He chose not to declare it in Munich. But upon leaving baggage claim at Franz Josef Strauss Airport, he was stopped by a customs officer from Bundeszollverwaltung (the German Federal Customs Service). It is not clear why…was the officers tipped off or was merely out of curiously?
But upon searching Schwarzenegger’s bag, the watch was found and Schwarzenegger was (properly) accused of failing to declare this luxury good. While most goods valued at €10,000 or less can be brought in without declaration, goods above that amount must be declared. There are no immigration or customs forms when entering Germany or other European Union states, so it falls upon the traveler to proactively make a declaration by going to the red lane rather than through the green lane after retrieving luggage.
Per Bild, Schwarzenegger was asked several personal questions including questions about his:
- net worth
- liquid assets
- children
- spouse
That seems a bit much, doesn’t it?
Upon searching his bag, the Audemars Piguet watch was found. Schwarzenegger explained it was for a charity auction and placed its value at €20,000. Customs officers disagreed, valuing it at €26,000 (arguably the watch might be worth 10x that and the starting bid at the charity auction tonight will be €50,000). On the basis of that €26,000 valuation, Schwarzenegger was taxed €4,000 and fined €5,000.
That’s pocket change to the Hollywood actor and he handed over his credit card to settle up the bill.
Not so fast.
Because in Germany…
Average German after you explain what internet banking and contactless card transactions are pic.twitter.com/LAHWVMyx7B
— Max Weber (@max_oikonomikos) January 16, 2024
Customs officers said he could pay half via credit card, but the other half had to be paid by cash. Good luck finding an ATM that will dispense that much. Banks were closed so that was also not an option. It took some time, but an ATM was eventually found, the money was paid, and Schwarzenegger was finally on his way to Austria.
Schwarzenegger’s spokesperson lamented:
“He cooperated at all times, although it was an incompetent investigation, a total comedy full of mistakes, which, however, would make a very funny police film.”
And while this was a funny incident in some ways, I don’t necessarily agree it was incompetent. Sure, we can say “no good deed goes unpunished” and that it was rather punitive that Germany wanted a cut of what will be auctioned off for charity (don’t get Germans started on the church tax…). On the other hand, the rules are rather clear: if valued at more than €10,000, you must declare it. Since Schwarzenegger had no intention of taking the watch home, it was subject to declaration.
CONCLUSION
Arnold Schwarzenegger was subject to a penalty from German customs officers for failing to declare a luxury watch after arriving at Munich Airport. If there is an upside to this story, it is likely that the watch will now be the centerpiece of this evening’s charity auction and the story behind it may significantly drive up the final price.
The lesson for all of us: when in doubt, declare it.
Typical problem for one who desires a shiny jewelry watch and a mirror . He also has way too much money , and way too little judgement. In Hawaii , no one needs a watch : the sun rises in the morning , is near overhead at noon , and sets in the evening . I’ve never had a watch , except in the Army when they issued me one ; stayed in my duffel bag .
The watch was auctioned off to raise money for a charity in Austia that Arnold supports. And how do you know how much money he has? And you have the nerve to criticize his judgment…..maybe if you had removed your watch from the government purchased duffel bag, and better utilized your time you would have the resources to donate something of so much value instead of attacking people who do, and are trying to help others.
He obviously raised suspicion when he tried to pass the metal detector.
At least this roided up tool flew commercial to the pointless circle jerk climate conference instead of the rest of the elitist cockroaches who flew private jets.
LOL….jealous much?
He probably volunteered that he was intending to sell the watch, I suspect that they would have left him alone if he’d said it’s a personal possession.
Every $ Arnold has was earned. As to the inspection, bureaucrats will take your money anywhere and everywhere.
According to The Bild story, unless I read wrong, what happened was that the credit card machine was apparently not working in the custom’s office so they asked him to go to the ATM to pay cash and when that didn’t work, he went back to customs, and a new officer was able to get the credit card machines working to pay in full.
Surely an actor so famous, and the former governor of California to boot, didn’t just walk to baggage claim and then elect to go through the green lane. Wouldn’t someone like Arnold arrive in some sort of VVIP fashion? Does he not hold a diplomatic passport.
I know he’s technically a civilian, but he isn’t really just like you and I. If Gavin Newsom needed to go to Munich, would he just fly in on LH and go through the same customs channels as everyone else? I’m surprised that this could even happen.
I don’t think any federal states issue diplomatic passports for state governors to travel on non-official business. Imagine the governor of Michoacán, Santa Catarina or indeed Kentucky landing with their family at CAI to see the pyramids and trying to explain to the border officers what it’s all about.
Considering the amount of people of German heritage and German businesses in Florianopolis, it seems like the governor of Santa Catarina might have a sliver of diplomacy on their agenda if they flew in to MUC. Why wouldn’t they have a diplomatic passport?
Generally, in the Americas, Chief executives of sub national entities, even Kentucky, yield quite a bit of power. Domestic laws don’t really treat them as civilians, so I’m surprised they don’t have Dip passports. Lots of people with fairly menial jobs with the State Department do.
Indeed there might be some understanding of SC at MUC, after all, Germany is a federal country too- hence the use of CAI in my example!
My guess is he would be escorted as a VVIP, but he’s definitely not got a black passport.
This strikes me as someone with bureaucratic power deciding to flex (no pun intended) and give Arnold a hard time. The unintended consequence of this is they embarrassed themselves and their country by 1) fining him over a charity gift that wasn’t even staying in Germany and 2) bungling the tax payment.
The Terminator almost certainly would not have needed to pay VAT and duty on the watch if it were to be auctioned for charity. However, obtaining these waivers takes–you guessed it–a lot of time and effort. Nonetheless, the charity should have done its due diligence.
Got to admit that requiring half of the duty and fine to be paid in cash seems par for the course in Germany (traffic fines had to be paid in cash on the spot). As is the broken Geldautomat. Clearly recall attending a gem show in Germany in which the Geldautomat was broken the entire time, despite most dealers accepting only cash.
at the end he is guilty of bring a watch without paying import tax or vat and went thru the green Chanel. Normally with values over 1000 UEros you lose your item and pay the 2 x19 vat (punitive rate) . also import duty depending on imported item betwenen 0-20 % . So he is not innocent…. Try to smuggle 25000 item into any country ….
That reminds me of a funny story (feel free to skip). I went to Odessa, Ukraine about 10 years ago and was smiling as I pushed my luggage cart like a total retarded American. The custom’s officer stopped me and interrogated me. “Did you declare anything?” and I said no, of course not. Nothing to declare. He asked if I had expensive alcohol and I laughed and I said “Of course not, vodka here is so cheap!” and my Ukrainian wife intervened and shut it down. I suppose he was grifting for a bribe but I had nothing for him to go after. I would have liked to have given him a Miami T-shirt just to be nice.
Good times.