'Billions in bonds' seized on Swiss border

Italian police say they have stopped two Japanese men at the Swiss border with undeclared US bonds allegedly amounting to nearly 100 billion euros. Police are currently verifying if the bonds are genuine.

AFP - Italian financial police said Friday they were holding two Japanese men stopped on the Swiss border with US bonds allegedly worth 134 billion dollars, or nearly 100 billion euros.

The two middle-aged men were trying to enter Switzerland from Italy by train when they were checked by customs at Chiasso after saying they had nothing to declare.

The financial police at Como said 249 US Federal Reserve bonds with a face value of 500 million dollars each were found in a false-bottomed suitcase along with 10 so-called Kennedy bonds worth one billion dollars apiece.

"We are trying to verify if these bonds are genuine," a police spokesman said.

If they are authentic, the Japanese face a fine of up to 38 billion euros for smuggling, the police said.
 

Date created : 2009-06-13