An Austrian court confirmed Wednesday the acquittal of a man accused of fraud after he cashed in dozens of kilos of scrap euro coins imported from China.

The German national was arrested in the spring after using a change machine at a bank in the western city of Bregenz to convert huge quantities of damaged coins into banknotes.

Police discovered 117kg (258lb) of scrap one- and two-euro coins, with a total vale of 15,000 euros ($17,000), in his car.

Having been charged with fraud and put in detention, the man explained that he regularly went to China to buy damaged coins retrieved from cars and washing machines sent there to be destroyed.

However, an appeal court in Innsbruck on Tuesday upheld a lower court's decision to acquit him, rejecting an appeal from prosecutors.

"My client was using a machine which is designed precisely to determine whether a coin is legal tender or not. So there can't be any fraud," the man's lawyer Christoph Eberle, told AFP.

The man made frequent trips to China with up to 30,000 euros in cash in order to stock up on damaged euros but Eberle said that his client had always made the relevant declarations to customs authorities.

There is a thriving trade in damaged coins found in cars and washing machines sent to China to be scrapped, with the coins being resold in bulk for a fraction of their face value.

In 2012, a similar case came before Germany's Federal Court of Justice which found it was not illegal to exchange large quantities of such coins at the country's central bank, even if in that case they had been sold exported to be melted down for scrap.

Related Links
Our Polluted World and Cleaning It Up

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

India pollution watchdog fines Delhi over toxic smog
New Delhi (AFP) Dec 4, 2018
India's environmental watchdog has slapped New Delhi's government with a $3.5 million fine for failing to enforce rules to reduce smog in the world's most polluted major city, officials said Tuesday. The National Green Tribunal penalised the capital administration for its lack of oversight after it emerged some polluting industries were still burning harmful waste in the open. The tribunal, a national body tasked with ruling on environmental matters, had been hearing a plea from Delhi residents ... read more