The Romanians living abroad may have to justify with documents any amounts of money of over EUR 1,000 they send back to the country, according to a draft law published on the website of the Office for the Prevention and Control of Money Laundering (ONPCSB), cited by local Adevarul.

Those who fail to meet the new regulation may have the money confiscated. Also, they risk fines of up to RON 150,000 (over EUR 32,000).

Finance minister Eugen Teodorovici said the project aims to transpose a European provision. However, he also added Romania shouldn’t rush to transpose this provision.

“I don’t believe that the Romanians who send money back home have something to do with terrorism. These are people who work outside the country to support their families at home, their children and relatives, and they send as much money as they can for the day-to-day needs of their families,” Teodorovici said.

He also said he would analyze the draft law published on the ONPCSB website.

Romanians working abroad sent EUR 2.45 billion to Romania in 2016. This was the highest level after 2010 and the fourth highest level in European Union, according to data from EU’s statistical office Eurostat.

Irina Marica, irina.marica@romania-insider.com