Arnold Schwarzenegger was detained by customs at Munich airport after entering Germany with a watch that was supposed to be auctioned off at a charity event.
The former California governor was stopped for routine checks after arriving on Wednesday, customs spokesman Thomas Meister revealed on Friday. Schwarzenegger was released after about two and a half hours.
Goods worth more than 430 euros ($654) imported to be kept in the European Union must be declared and, if necessary, duty paid on them. German media reported that the allegedly undeclared Swiss watch from Audemars Piguet was valued by Schwarzenegger, for whom it was specially made, at around 20,000 euros.
The Schwarzenegger Climate Initiative stated that the actor was detained “for travelling with a watch he owns that he might be auctioning at his charity auction in Kitzbuehel” in Austria.
The organisation also added that Schwarzenegger “co-operated at every step even though it was an incompetent shakedown” and that he agreed to “prepay potential taxes” on his own private watch.
The watch is still expected to be auctioned off, with the climate initiative “will properly report it, as all of Arnold’s nonprofits do.”
The celebrity’s charity auctions raise millions of dollars for after-school programmes for children in the US and environmental efforts across the globe, the organisation claimed.
The case has been handed over to the Augsburg customs authority for further examination.
