High court upholds Custom Agency’s power to seize cash

Santo Domingo.- The Constitutional Tribunal upheld the Customs Agency’s ability to confiscate currency brought into or taken out of the country unlawfully, which requires declaration ??when it exceeds US$10,000.

CT ruling 056 rejects an appeal filed by Juan Carlos Genao Dorrejo and Guillermo Martinez Gil against the Customs Agency, claiming a violation of the right to property, in a case of US$250,000 seized when they tried to leave the country, without declaring it. Of the confiscated money, US$100,000 belonged to Martinez and the remaining 150,000 to Genao.

The CT judges upheld all parts of the ruling handed down by the Administrative Court in 2011, rejecting an appeal filed by Genao and Martinez.