Original Blog Entry: Millionaire fined $290,000 for speeding

truesee — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 03:56:23 GMT

Swiss millionaire fined $290,000 for speeding

Court bases record-breaking fine on man's wealth of over $20 million

updated 2:56 p.m. ET, Thurs., Jan. 7, 2010

ST. GALLEN, Switzerland - A Swiss court has slapped a wealthy speeder with a chalet-sized fine a full $290,000.

Judges at the cantonal court in St. Gallen, in eastern Switzerland, based the record-breaking fine on the speeder's estimated wealth of more than $20 million.

A statement on the court's Web site says the driver a repeat offender drove up to 35 miles an hour faster than the 50-mile-an-hour limit.

Court clerk Heidi Baumann-Becker said Thursday the unidentified driver can appeal the decision, handed down in November, to the Swiss supreme court.

The Blick daily newspaper in Zurich reported the fine was more than twice the previous Swiss record of about $107,000.

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