If Harmeet Singh was guilty of the minor traffic violation, it appeared he had sufficient finances to pay any fine.
When police pulled the Ringwood man over over on Saturday for the alleged driving offence, they found about $500,000 in cash in the car, Melbourne Magistrates Court heard on Thursday.
Mr Singh was arrested as a result and charged with dealing in money reasonably suspected of being proceeds of crime.
In court, magistrate Amanda Chambers asked Commonwealth prosecutor Matthew Sinnett if the matter involved a “complex fraud”, to which he replied: “Not really”.
Mr Sinnett explained that essentially the accused had been picked up for a “traffic violation” by members of Victoria Police who then found about $500,000 in the vehicle.
Mr Singh, who was arrested and charged on October 19 – a week after his 35th birthday, had his bail extended on Thursday to appear again in court in January.
His conditions of bail included reporting to police, surrendering his passport and not attending any points of international departure or leaving Australia.