25 Million Won Found in Trash Bag Goes to Finder After Owner Fails to Appear

A trash bag containing 25 million won in cash was found in a residential area in Incheon, but as the owner never came forward, ownership was transferred to the person who first discovered it.

According to the Incheon Jemulpo Police Station, 25 million won in mysterious cash was discovered on February 10 in a 20-liter standard garbage bag discarded next to a villa in Geumgok-dong, Jemulpo-gu.

At the time, the bundles of cash consisted of 50,000-won bills tied with Bank of Korea bands in sets of 100, covered with pieces of clothing.

A, in his 60s, discovered the bundles of cash while checking the trash bag to collect old clothes and reported it to the police.

As a considerable amount of cash turned up in a garbage bag, the police set out to identify the owner and determine whether there was any connection to a crime.

The police first posted a public notice of the lost property on the integrated lost-and-found portal and local newspapers, and even attached flyers around the location where it was found.

Furthermore, they directly visited dozens of nearby households to thoroughly check if there were any cases of missing cash, but no one claimed ownership.

The police failed to secure biometric information sufficient to identify the owner through fingerprint analysis, and no unusual activity appeared in nearby CCTV footage.

While various speculations were raised regarding the source of the money, six months passed without the owner appearing.

Under the Lost Property Act, if the owner does not claim their right within six months of public notice, ownership is transferred to the finder.

Accordingly, it was confirmed that A received 19.23 million won transferred to his account in August, after the exclusion of 5.77 million won consisting of a 22 percent tax and local newspaper publication costs from the 25 million won in cash.

In A's case, he did not fall under any grounds for disqualification of ownership, such as failing to report or submit the lost property within seven days of finding it, thereby acquiring ownership as the initial finder.

The police stated, "It was confirmed that there was no connection to a crime, but the owner of the cash ultimately did not show up," adding, "We managed the cash through the national treasury before disbursing it to A."

Reported by Jung Da-eun | Video by Ahn Jun-hyeok | Graphics by Lee Su-min | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.