It’s believed the action star may auction the watch — said to be a Swiss brand Audemars Piguet worth more than $21,000 — tomorrow in Austria for the Schwarzenegger Climate Initiative, leading customs to initiate “criminal tax proceedings.”
“If the goods remain in the EU, you have to pay tax and duty on them,” said the customs spokesman, according to German newspaper BILD, which was first to report on his detention. “That applies to everyone.”
The spox said that includes Schwarzenegger, who has dual Austrian and US citizenship. In the BILD report was a photo of the Terminator actor, looking cool and collected while posing with the item in hand which they explained is required to be registered due to it being an import.