Thu, Sep 18, 2003 - Page 16 News List

Swiss banks keep hold of Jewish gold

Just 10 percent of the cash taken by the Nazis and held by Swiss banks has been returned to its owners

AFP , ZURICH

One payment of 181,000 Swiss francs (US$131,000) was made by the CRT after a bank was unable to check on the claim because it had destroyed account records decades ago, according to a case file.

"It's like the lottery, you can win the jackpot," another source commented, adding that "black sheep" had probably joined the flood of genuine plaintiffs to try to get some money.

About 12,000 of the total claims do match published names of dormant account holders found by Swiss banks and investigators, the CRT said.

A Swiss historian, Thomas Maissen, told the Swiss news agency ATS that not enough people would have a rightful claim to compensation, and the money left over would likely be paid to Jewish groups under the terms of the agreement struck in New York.

Most of the successful claimants so far live in the US (399) or in Israel (146). Eighty-two live in France and 29 in Switzerland.

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