Miami Vice star Don Johnson is facing a real-life police investigation after he was caught with £5 billion stuffed into a suitcase. The paper fortune was discovered in his car when he was stopped by customs officials at a roadblock in Germany. He had just driven across the border from Switzerland with a carload of share certificates, cheques, credit notes and bonds.
No charges have been filed as yet, but German customs authorities have confirmed he is suspected of involvement in an international money-laundering ring. Officials said the 53-year-old was cooperative, though not forthcoming, when his Mercedes was stopped just two miles from the Swiss border.
"A decision on whether to launch a criminal probe will come soon," said Leonhard Bierl of Germany's Customs Investigation Department. "American authorities have been fully informed of what we found… That wouldn't have happened unless we were suspicious about why he had all these stocks and shares with him."
According to press reports in Germany, the actor told officers he needed that money for a business deal with DaimlerChrysler. When asked why he required such a large sum, he responded: "I am going to buy a car."
He has since claimed that the money was not even his, however. "I was on my way to Germany to look at a car," he said. "None of the documents belonged to me, they were all legitimate papers and stuff from a passenger that was in the car, nothing to do with me."
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