Happy Christmas for boy who found CHF1,000 note
Patience has been a virtue for a 15-year-old boy in Dietikon, canton Zurich, who has become the official owner of the CHF1,000 ($1,012) note he found in the street five years ago.
Just ten at the time of the discovery, he turned the lilac note, which had been run over judging by tyre marks, into the city authorities, where it waited to be claimed by its original owner – in vain.
Under Swiss law, if property found in a public place is not claimed after five years, it falls under the universal rule of “finders, keepers”. The only exception is trams and trains, in which lost-and-found items automatically go to the vehicle operator.
“He was very happy. At 15, you know what to do with CHF1,000,” Dietikon public safety director Thomas Winkelmann said on Friday.
“Money gets turned in now and then, maybe 50 or 100 francs. But a CHF1,000 note – never.”
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