Taxi driver was caught leaving Dublin Airport with over €120k in undeclared cash

Niamh O'Donoghue

A taxi driver was caught leaving Dublin Airport with over €120,000 in undeclared cash, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court has heard.

Khaled Almoghayer (43) of Winston Cheshire, Belgium, pleaded guilty to attempting to leave the European Union with €10,000 or more on January 3rd, 2026. He has no previous convictions.

Almoghayer is based in Belgium, where he has lived for the past 12 years, but is originally from Gaza, where his counsel said his property was destroyed.

Garda Sarah Johnson of Dublin Airport told the court that gardaí were contacted by the customs section of the Revenue.

She said she met with the accused in the airport. In his check-in luggage, “there was a large quantity of cash in his suitcase” stuffed in boots and socks and he had some in his manbag.

Almoghayer said he had €3,000 but initially denied he had any money at all. The court heard he had €122,850.

He stated it was his life savings, and he was going to buy a property in Turkey and to get his teeth done.

He was taken to the garda station, where he stated that he travelled into this country on his own and went straight to a hotel by taxi.

However, CCTV showed he went with a man to Rathmines and was picked up by a gentleman.

He travelled 12 times from Ireland to Istanbul this year and said it was life-saving. Almoghayer said he had no bank statements or records to prove that he had this in savings.

The court heard he was observed coming to Ireland the previous day. He got a taxi to Rathmines and said he had been dropped to a hotel but he could not provide proof of the hotel booking.

Gardaí observed him and other people arriving at the airport. He travelled here from Turkey on a Belgian passport and is originally from Palestine.

He lives in state-funded accommodation in Belgium, where he has a wife and three children. He travelled 22 times in the last 12 months to countries including Egypt, Morocco, and also went back to Palestine.

He is in custody since January 3rd this year and came forward from the district court on a signed plea.

Passing sentence on Tuesday, Judge Elma Sheahan said the evidence that he passed through the country a few times to visit his parents living in Istanbul “is somewhat questionable”.

The judge said an aggravating factor was the seriousness of the offending. The mitigating factors included his early plea, which was “of significant value”, and lack of previous convictions.

She noted his family was in Belgium, having left Gaza 12 years ago, and custody is more difficult for a person who would not have family in the jurisdiction or who does not have English as a first language.

Judge Sheahan gave him a 12-month sentence, but backdated to January for time spent in custody and suspended the balance on condition he leaves Ireland within seven days.