PJ police are investigating why a Chinese couple, both with permanent visas to remain in Portugal, was caught trying to board a plane at Lisbon’s Portela airport with a stash of around €1 million and 3.5 million Chinese yuan neatly wrapped in cellophane wads. According to reports, anti-corruption cops suspect this could be “a crime of a fiscal nature”. While investigations continue, the money has been apprehended.
The couple, aged 22 and 47, are understood to have been released without any kind of bail conditions, though they have been formally made “arguidos” (defendants) in the inquiry. If the money is found to have an “illicit origin” or its removal was indeed designed to avoid tax, then it may never be returned to the couple.
As Correio da Manhã reports this morning, the couple “had already been investigated before they tried to embark” from the airport, and the PJ “knew” they would find wads of cash neatly wrapped in cellophane in their luggage.
As to the value of the Chinese yuan, CM puts this as “around €500,000”.
