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Swiss village gets to keep abandoned gold bars

The Local
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Swiss village gets to keep abandoned gold bars
Photo: Baloncici/Depositphotos"

The village of Klingnau in the canton of Aargau just got a bit richer: the commune is now allowed to keep 100,000 francs worth of gold bars that were found in a field five years ago.

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Under Swiss law, ‘finders-keepers’ applies after five years has passed without the owners being found or coming forward. 
 
 
Two employees of the commune found the gold ingots stashed in a plastic bag in a field in 2012, reported news agency ATS on Monday. Since the treasure was discovered while they were performing their duties for the commune, by law the pair were obliged to transfer the loot to their employer. 
 
An investigation failed to find the owner, despite an initial lead pointing to a Bosnian man who was in prison when the treasure was discovered. 
 
But ownership was not proven, nor was there anything to connect the gold bars to a crime. 
 
Shortly before the five year deadline, two people turned up to stake a claim on the treasure, but after a police investigation, their claims were judged unfounded, police said. 
 
Now the gold bars become the official property of Klingnau, though the two communal employees who found them have the right to ten percent of the value, said ATS. 
 

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