Family feud over fortune made from recycling cans

To the people of Skelleftea he was Tin-Can-Curt, the tramp who scavenged drink containers for recycling

To the people of Skelleftea he was Tin-Can-Curt, the tramp who scavenged drink containers for recycling

But Curt Degerman was a financial genius who used the money he earned from collecting scrap metal to trade on the international markets.

Secret fortune: Degerman estate is worth Rs 4.5 crore

Now 18 months after his death, his relatives are fighting a legal battle over a secret 1 (Rs 4.5 crore) million pound estate he amassed by investing in shares.

For 40 years he spent his days touring the bins on an old bicycle stuffing the containers he collected into bags tied between the handlebars. But after he died aged 60, it emerged that he was a millionaire. He made a will leaving his entire fortune to the cousin, who visited him regularly in the months before his death. But when the full extent of the estate emerged the will was contested by another cousin who believed his father, Degerman's uncle was entitled to it.

Under Swedish inheritance law the uncle, whose name has not been made public, held the legal right to inherit his nephew's riches.

A settlement between the two cousins was finally negotiated out of court this week. The pair have agreed to share the surprise fortune after being urged to make a private agreement by a magistrate at Skelleftea district court.

Neither would reveal the details of the settlement but both said they were "satisfied" with the outcome.

Skelleftea is also the birthplace of Stig Larsson, author of the international best-selling Millennium Trilogy crime novels. The family of the former journalist, who died of a heart attack in 2004 before seeing the success of his novels, are embroiled in a bitter feud with his girlfriend of 32 years over his estate which is now worth more than 30m pounds.