Finance Ministry rejects claim for unpaid Karlovy Vary bonds

The Czech Finance Ministry has rejected a massive 500-million-dollar claim for unpaid bonds that the town of Karlovy Vary issued back in 1924. The bonds were sold in the United States and the claim was made collectively by US lawyer Ed Fagan. Individual claimants have not been identified. The spa town itself has rejected all responsibility saying it was a different legal entity at the time, and the Czech Finance Ministry which had been studying the case said the claims had been statute barred for years. The bonds matured in 1954 but were never paid. According to available information the Czechoslovak authorities negotiated with the bond holders in 1984 and the two sides signed a memorandum the contents of which have not been disclosed.