Treasure Hunters' Lay-Away Plan Foiled in Hatay

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Posta Newspaper, 13 March 2019)



                        If it seems too good to be true...

Five or six months ago, phony treasure hunters buried some fake
'treasures' in the field of farmer Yakup Kökçeoğlu in Hatay's Kırıkhan
district.  The swindlers recently returned and, on the pretext of buying
some land, they zeroed in on Kökçeoğlu (53) as their target, telling
him that there was a 'king's ransom' in treasure on his land.

Kökçeoğlu met with the swindlers and agreed to hunt for the treasure.
They met in the evening, with the swindlers pointing to a rock, under
which they expected to find treasure.  The following morning,
Kökçeoğlu dug up the 'treasure' and called his 'colleagues', who said
they would go to Switzerland to market the 'treasure'.  Explaining
that the trip would cost about 30,000 Euros, the swindlers wanted
Kökçeoğlu to chip in $10,000. 

At this point, the farmer became suspicious and contacted the
Gendarmerie.  An examination of the 'treasure' Kökçeoğlu found
confirmed that they were all fake.  The Gendarmerie is searching
for the swindlers.


 Kırıkhan is northeast of Hatay's capital Antakya.