In December 2014, Reus was fined €540,000 for driving without a valid licence, which constitutes a felony in Germany. The fine was based on his then monthly salary of €180,000. He had been driving for years with a fake Dutch licence, a felony in its own right, and has been issued with speeding tickets on at least five occasions since 2011 without authorities knowing that he was not legally licensed. The felony charges for using a counterfeit licence were later dropped, causing some controversy and raising questions from politicians whether his celebrity status had been a reason for a milder sentence. When convicted, Reus said, "The reasons I did it are something I cannot really understand." Prior to his conviction, he had appeared in commercials for cars and petrol. In August 2016, Reus confirmed that he now has a driver's licence.
