[imagesource:flickr]

Poor Arnold Schwarzenegger was detained after being stopped by customs officials at Munich Airport.

The Terminator actor and former California governor was en route to a charity event in Austria, his birth country when he was stopped for a routine check on arrival Wednesday. He happened to be detained over a luxury watch he had brought into the country, which was intended to be a prize at a charity auction Thursday in aid of the Schwarzenegger Climate Initiative, a source had confirmed.

The 76-year-old actor was questioned for two and a half hours before being allowed to leave, an airport customs spokesperson told NBC News.

“He cooperated at every step even though it was an incompetent shakedown, a total comedy of errors that would make a very funny cop movie,” the source said.

Thomas Meister, spokesman for Munich’s customs office, speaking to German broadcaster RTL, said that criminal tax proceedings had been initiated, which would be processed by the criminal and fines office.

“It’s too early to say what the outcome will be. There are many factors that have to be taken into account. It will still take some time,” he said.

Meister explained that Schwarzenegger was asked to provide personal, financial information and had the opportunity to consult a lawyer.

A source close to Schwarzenegger said that while he fully agreed to prepay any taxes on the expensive item, he couldn’t find a working credit card machine. Cue the crisis.

Officers had to walk Schwarzenegger to an ATM at the airport to withdraw cash… but the withdrawal limit was too low and the bank was closed, the source said. Thankfully, a second credit card machine worked and the tax was paid.

“The watch will likely still be auctioned tomorrow, and the Schwarzenegger Climate Initiative will properly report it, as all of Arnold’s nonprofits do,” the source said last Wednesday.

Schwarzenegger was scheduled to host a dinner and charity auction on Thursday evening in the Austrian ski destination of Kitzbühel as part of a weekend of activities organised to celebrate an annual Alpine skiing competition.

“‘Whenever people say to me, ‘You are the perfect description of a self-made man,’ I thank them, but tell them they can call me anything they want — but not self-made. I got a lot of help throughout my life and we all need help,” Schwarzenegger said in the news release.

He continued: “So tonight we ask for help. We have to give back and change the world. Today we can all give back by helping to create a cleaner and healthier future.”

According to a press release from his foundation, one of the noteworthy prizes included in the auction was a training session with Schwarzenegger.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Schwarzenegger Climate Initiative (@schwarzeneggerclimateaction)

As the dude said in Batman & Robin (1998), “Let’s kick some ice!”

[source:nbcnews]