(RightWing.org) – Action hero Arnold Schwarzenegger has finally run into an opponent he can’t defeat — German airport officials. The “Terminator” star had landed in Bavaria on his way to a charity conference in his native Austria when he was detained for alleged tax evasion. The reason? He hadn’t declared his expensive watch.
On January 17, Schwarzenegger, a five-time Mr. Universe winner launched his acting career with 1973’s “The Long Goodbye.” He then went on to become one of the biggest stars of the 80s and 90s.
When his plane landed at Munich Airport in southern Germany en route to Kitzbuhel, Austria. It should be a simple enough trip — Munich isn’t far from the Austrian border, and as both countries are EU members there are no border controls between them. However, the star ran into problems before he even got that far. As he went through customs in Munich an over-zealous officer found a Swiss-made Audemars Piguet in his baggage and claimed that as Schwarzenegger hadn’t declared the high-value item –- it’s worth around $21,000 — he was trying to evade German import taxes.
According to witnesses, Schwarzenegger, who served as Governor of California from 2003 to 2011, was friendly and cooperative at first — but as the scene dragged on, his patience started to run out. Officers forced him to pay them the potential tax on the watch in cash. Now a German customs official has said the state of Bavaria is launching “criminal tax proceedings” against the 76-year-old actor.
Meanwhile, Schwarzenegger is apparently furious at the number of questions the agents asked him, the fact it took them over an hour to collect the tax prepayment, and the fact he was detained for almost three hours for not making a customs declaration he wasn’t even asked for. After that, the challenges his on-screen heroes face probably looks like the easy option.
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