A Portuguese worker who had been saving money all his life – and claims to have amassed as much as a million euros – saw the whole lot stolen from a homemade vault in his garage on Christmas Eve.
“They took everything I had”, 79-year-old former car mechanic Duarte Nogueira told Correio da Manhã – adding that only he and another family member knew of the existence of the vault.
PSP police are now investigating. As far as anyone can tell, the thieves broke into the garage in São Cosme, near Gondômar, around 8pm on Christmas Eve -.the night most Portuguese families celebrate Christmas.
“They definitely knew what was there”, Nogueira told reporters. “They went straight to the vault and didn’t touch anything else in the garage. They knew the value of what was hidden”.
The sad story highlights a growing tendency by people to keep money and valuables hidden at home and not in banks. The former migrant to France explained he came by much of his wealth through an inheritance from a former employer.
