離開
進入《中英對照讀新聞》Geneva toilets flush with cash 日內瓦馬桶湧出現鈔
日內瓦馬桶傳出湧出現鈔。（資料照）
◎周虹汶
Geneva prosecutors are investigating after toilets in a bank and three restaurants were blocked by about $100,000 in high-denomination euro banknotes, they said on Monday.
日內瓦檢察官週一說，一家銀行和三間餐廳的馬桶被約10萬的高面額歐元紙鈔塞住後，他們正展開調查。
"We are not so interested in the motive but we want to be sure of the origin of the money," spokesman Vincent Derouand said, adding that neither throwing money away nor blocking a toilet was a crime.
發言人文生．德魯昂說：「我們對動機沒什麼興趣，但我們想確定這些金錢的來源」，另補充指出，把錢丟掉或是讓馬桶塞住都不算犯罪。
The Tribune de Genève newspaper, which first reported the unusual deposit, said the first blockage occurred in the toilet serving the vault at UBS bank in Geneva’s financial district, and three nearby bistros found their facilities bunged up with 500-euro notes a few days later.
最先報導這筆異常存款的《日內瓦論壇報》說，第一道阻塞發生在日內瓦金融區的瑞士聯合銀行金庫馬桶裡；幾天後，附近三家餐館發現他們的設備被500歐元鈔票塞住。
Derouand said two people had agreed to compensate the restaurants for the costs of the blockage, and the restaurants had withdrawn a complaint that they made when the incident happened in May.
德魯昂說，兩位民眾已同意賠償餐廳阻塞費用，而餐廳撤銷了此宗5月事件發生時所提告訴。
The cash was confiscated during the investigation and it was unclear who would get it if it was found to be lawful. There was no immediate reason to think it was dirty money, Derouand said.
調查期間，那些現金遭到沒收，若被發現合法，目前還不清楚誰會來拿。德魯昂說，沒有直接理由認定它是不法髒錢。
The European Central Bank said last year it had decided to discontinue the 500-euro note because of concerns that it was being used too often for illicit activities including money laundering.（Reuters）
歐洲中央銀行去年說，決定廢止500歐元鈔票，因考慮到它太常被用在包括洗錢等非法活動上。（路透）
新聞辭典
flush：動詞，指臉紅、發亮、興奮得意、奔流、沖刷；形容詞，指紅光滿面的、充足豐富的、等高的；名詞，指湧出、發射、情感激動。例句：She is in the full flush of success.（她的成就如日中天。）
bung：名詞，指塞子、賄款；動詞，指扔、丟、堵塞。例句：Many enterprises went bung during the financial crisis.（許多企業在那場金融危機期間倒閉。）
confiscate：動詞，指沒收、充公、徵用；形容詞，指被沒收的。例句：The police have the right to confiscate any prohibited items they find.（警方有權沒收他們查獲到的任何違禁品。）
