Bizarre excuses of cash-carrying travellers

Even jaded customs officers must have smirked at the excuse. When they searched bags belonging to Rafhe John they found €106,700 in cash.

The Dutch national was about to board a flight to Amsterdam from Dublin Airport.

When asked to explain why he had the money John said he had received the cash in a car at the back of Dublin Airport from a man he had never met before.

He said he intended to buy construction vehicles in Amsterdam.

John later claimed he was carrying the cash on behalf of another man, Eric Owusu Afriyie, who claimed it was to be used to buy cars in Europe for export to Ghana.

Revenue’s investigations and prosecutions division investigated the case, as with all cash seizures, and forwarded a file to the DPP.

In the majority of cases the confiscation applications are not contested, but in this case Arfiyie fought it. In the Circuit Criminal Court last July, Ms Justice Patricia Ryan rejected the explanations given by Arfiyie and an order was granted forfeiting the cash to the exchequer.

Eyebrows were also raised at Dublin Airport when customs officers opened luggage belonging to David Whearty and found €49,930 inside.

The Irishman was about to board a flight to Málaga in Spain.

He claimed it represented his winnings on horse racing bets and also bets placed by a syndicate on his behalf. The case went to the circuit criminal court last November, where Revenue demonstrated the claims did not stand up to scrutiny.

It was further claimed Mr Whearty intended to use the cash to finance the purchase of a property in Spain, together with his partner. A document submitted to Revenue to support his claim, purporting to be from a Spanish property agent, was found to be false.

The original seizure took place on Feb 27, 2010, and as with the vast majority of cases it took two years or more for the courts to adjudicate.

On the same date in Feb 2010, Irishwoman Angela Rooney was stopped flying to the same destination from Dublin Airport. She had €19,950 taken from her.

She claimed the cash was the proceeds of the sale of property in 2005 and that she intended to use it to buy property in Spain. Again a document submitted to support her claim, purporting to be from a Spanish property agent, was found to be false. Her counsel opposed the case in the court last November, but the money was forfeited.

In another case, Anthony Griffiths was stopped at Dublin Airport in Sept 2011 as he was about to board a flight to Amsterdam with €8,000 stuffed into a runner in his hand luggage.

He claimed he was travelling to Amsterdam and might stay there for a holiday. The court was later told the cash was savings from his employment, but Revenue said he had been unemployed since 2010.

These were among 18 forfeiture orders granted by the courts in 2012, the same number as 2011. Between the two years, almost €2m was handed over to the State.