US snubs out legal cigar transaction

US snubs out legal cigar transaction

Foreign minister intervenes after Danish man loses appeal to have 137,000 kroner returned to him by the Americans
Due to the trade embargo, the trade in Cuban cigars is illegal in the USA (Photo: Colourbox)

Authorities in the US have refused to return 137,000 kroner that was confiscated from a Danish policeman who attempted to legally purchase Cuban cigars from Germany.

Torben Nødskouv intended to resell the cigars through his small business Cigarhuset and made the transaction in dollars with a Hamburg-based distributor. But the transaction, which was automatically routed through the US, was picked up by American authorities who froze the money, arguing that the transaction violated the American trade embargo with Cuba.

Nødskouv appealed after the $20,000 transaction was frozen last autumn, but the money may be permanently lost after he was recently informed that it would not be returned to him.

The intervention of the American authorities in a legal transaction between two European countries has provoked criticism from a range of politicians and experts who argue that the US has overstepped its place in their policing of financial transactions under the guise of fighting terrorism.

http://cphpost.dk/news/international/us-snubs-out-legal-cigar-transaction