Regensburg customs busts scrap dealer fraud and large cigarette smuggling operation

Customs investigators in Regensburg uncovered two separate offences. A scrap dealer failed to report earnings from his business for about three years while receiving unemployment benefits, causing a loss of roughly €45,000 to the local Jobcenter. The Amtsgericht Regensburg sentenced him to a one‑year prison term, suspended, and ordered repayment of the benefits and court costs.

In a separate case, customs officers stopped a Bulgarian‑registered car and trailer on the B14 near Waidhaus. Hidden in multiple compartments were 17,320 untaxed cigarettes, representing a tax loss of about €3,691. The 23‑year‑old Bulgarian driver faces a tax evasion prosecution under the tobacco tax law. Both investigations were overseen by René Matschke, senior director of the Hauptzollamt Regensburg.