The Tax and Customs Police Department of the State Revenue Service (SRS) has initiated criminal proceedings for the transfer of 402,475 euros of cash obtained by crime across the state border of the Republic of Latvia.
In February 2024, when carrying out customs control measures for a car that was on its way from Lithuania to Latvia, with the license plates of the Federal Republic of Germany, at the Latvian-Lithuanian border crossing point “Grenctāle”, undeclared cash in the amount of 402,475 euros was discovered in it.
As explained by the Deputy State Secretary of the Ministry of Finance for Tax Administration and Limitation of the Shadow Economy, Dr. oec. Olga Bogdanova: “Cash is often used as a means of the shadow economy. Therefore, cash flow monitoring, incl. with the mutual cooperation of several competent state institutions, in the Shadow Economy Limitation Plan 2024-2027 has been recognized as a priority measure”.
O. Bogdanova also emphasizes that: “Special attention has been paid to the evaluation of the dynamics of the origin, movement and use of cash, both by using the data currently available in our country and other countries, and by providing for amendments to regulatory acts, continuing to improve the transparency of cash flow”.
A citizen of the Federal Republic of Germany and a citizen of the Republic of Moldova were in the vehicle, who did not declare cash, could not explain and present documents of the origin of the money. During the customs control, the persons were asked if cash was to be declared, to which both persons answered in the negative. Taking into account that it was not possible to carry out the in-depth control on the spot, it was decided to do it at the customs control point of the Riga Freeport in Riga, with the participation of a canine specialist of the SRS Customs Department with a cash-searching working dog. After this statement, the citizen of the Federal Republic of Germany stated that there was cash in the vehicle of about 400,000 euros, which he wanted to declare.
The undeclared cash found was seized and the individuals arrested. All withdrawn money has been deposited in the Treasury account. The persons were released and placed on non-custodial security measures.
Criminal proceedings have been initiated according to the Criminal Law Article 195 for the criminal offenses provided for in the third part for the possible laundering of criminally obtained financial assets, if it is committed in a large amount.
As part of the initiated criminal proceedings, five sanctioned searches were carried out (four of them in Riga, one in the Mārupe district), during which additional cash was seized – 102,240 euros, 45,466 US dollars, as well as banknotes in other currencies.
According to Article 19 of the Law on Criminal Procedure, no person is considered guilty until he is found guilty of committing a criminal offense in accordance with the procedures specified in the Law on Criminal Procedure.
When should cash be declared at the border?
Shwhen crossing the state border of the Republic of Latvia (both entering and leaving) in places where it is also the external border of the European Union, any person is obliged to declare cash in the amount of 10,000 euros or more. A natural person must fill out the cash declaration form in writing, confirming the truthfulness of the information provided in it with a signature, and submit it to a customs official when crossing the external border of the country. More information on declaring cash – in the section of the SRS website “Declaring cash while traveling”.
Liability for non-declaration of cash
Administrative responsibility is provided for non-declaration of cash, if the amount of money that is required to be declared does not exceed the total amount of fifty minimum monthly wages set in the country (in 2023 – 31,000 euros). Failure to fulfill the obligation to declare cash is subject to a fine of up to twenty percent of the amount to be declared.
Non-declaration of cash in large amounts – starting from the total sum of fifty minimum monthly wages – is subject to criminal liability. According to Article 195.², Part 2¹ of the Criminal Law, non-declaration or false declaration of a large amount of cash, which is brought into or taken out of the Republic of Latvia by crossing the external border of the country, is punishable by deprivation of liberty for a period of up to three years or by temporary imprisonment deprivation, or by forced labor, or by fine. Such criminal offense, if committed by an organized group, is punishable by deprivation of liberty for up to four years, or by temporary deprivation of liberty, or by forced labor, or by a fine.
Sanctions against Russia and Belarus
Ain accordance with the sanctions imposed by the European Union against Russia[1][1] and Belarus[2] [2] it is prohibited to export to the mentioned countries banknotes denominated in the official currency of any member state of the European Union. The prohibition does not apply if the cash is taken out in a reasonable amount only for personal travel needs or diplomatic needs. It is prohibited to export banknotes of the official currencies of the European Union member states for use for commercial purposes or for transfer to other persons.
[1][1] Council Regulation of July 31, 2014 (EU) No. 833/2014 on restrictive measures related to Russia’s actions destabilizing the situation in Ukraine, Article 5i,
[2] [2] Council Regulation of May 18, 2006 (EC) No. 765/2006 on restrictive measures, taking into account the situation in Belarus and Belarus’ involvement in Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, Article 1za.
State Revenue Service
