Man With $70M Check Caught At German Airport

A man with $70M check was stopped by customs officials at an airport in Germany after trying to enter the country without declaring his loot.

Man with $70M check caught by German customs

Officers discovered the Iranian man's $70M check in the side pocket of his hand luggage after randomly checking his bag as he got off a flight from Turkey which landed at Dusseldorf airport in western Germany on Friday morning.

The check was issued by the Venezuelan state-owned bank, Banco de Venezuela, made out for 300M Venezuelan bolívares, about $70M.

As the 59-year-old Iranian was unable to declare the check and to offer a plausible explanation about its intended recipient and purpose, customs officials said on Friday they had confiscated the document due to suspicion of money-laundering.

The unnamed man is now facing charges of having committed an administrative offense - of not declaring assets over €10,000 ($13,644). If found guilty, the Iranian traveler could be fined up to €1M ($1.4M).

Update: The man with $70M check has been identified as Iran's former central bank chief, Tahmasb Mazaheri.