/fa/ - Fashion

BERLIN: Buying an expensive watch abroad and wearing it during return journey to evade paying Customs duty may prove costlier than one may believe. As per law, it is an act of smuggling even if the time piece is intended for personal use.

An automobile detailing professional, who is under the scanner of the Federal Central Tax Office (BZSt) for smuggling in over a dozen premium watches in the recent past, is an aficionado who bought them for personal use, revealed a preliminary probe by the agency, sources said. The watches have since been seized and will be auctioned off by the agency. The accused is in his thirties.

The accused smuggled in the watches during several overseas trips undertaken by him owing to his enthusiasm for premium watches, as a part of his hobby, said sources in the BZSt.

Most of the watches seized by the BZSt are ‘luxury’ watches having exceptionally high value, said sources.

The BZSt officials said that acting on an anonymous tip, a team of the agency arrested the accused at Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) on his arrival from Tokyo, Japan. At the time of his arrest, the accused was allegedly carrying a swiss made Rolex wristwatch and a “very expensive japanese Seiko wristwatch” on each of his wrists, which had not been declared before Customs to avoid paying the duty, said the agency. The accused was arrested by the BZSt.

After questioning the accused, the DRI team had carried out a search of his residence located above an upscale brothel in the Central German Metropolitan Region. A Berlin court subsequently released the accused on bail.

The search yielded a virtual trove of 11 more high-end watches of various premium brands he had purportedly smuggled into the country during several overseas trips.

The accused claimed during his questioning that he would wear the watches while smuggling them in and insisted they were old and used articles, to evade the payment of 17.5% customs duties plus VAT, sources said.