AZE.US
A man who tried to bring a large amount of foreign currency into Azerbaijan without properly declaring it was stopped at customs and later fined more than 64,000 manats.
According to Lent.az, the incident took place at the Red Bridge customs checkpoint in Azerbaijan’s Gazakh district. Prosecutors said a 61-year-old Georgian citizen, identified in court materials as Said Bagirov, a substituted name, attempted to bring $94,270 into the country by hiding the money inside the truck he was driving.
Customs officers discovered the cash during an inspection, after which a criminal smuggling case was opened against him.
Bagirov told investigators that he wanted to bring the money into Azerbaijan to buy a private house in Baku. He said $32,000 came from the sale of his late father’s home to his brother, while another $62,000 had been borrowed from the same brother. The remaining $270, he said, was his own money.
He said he initially hid the cash in a black package inside the right-side door of the truck. But after customs officers informed him that the vehicle would undergo an X-ray inspection, he removed the bundle and hid the money in different parts of the vehicle in an attempt to avoid detection.
Apart from that sum, he was also carrying another $5,300. According to his testimony, that money was intended to pay drivers transporting bananas from Georgia to Azerbaijan. He said $800 of that amount was his own salary.
Bagirov told the court he regretted what he had done and asked for a lighter punishment.
The court ultimately fined him 64,103 manats, equivalent to 40% of the amount recognized as the object of the crime. He has been ordered to pay the fine into the relevant bank account within one month after the ruling enters legal force.
AZE.US