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Briefcase Full Of Money And Gold Handed In To Police In Berlin

Briefcase Full Of Money And Gold Handed In To Police In Berlin

German police have praised the 'honest finder'

Anonymous

Anonymous

Finders keepers, losers weepers - or so the old saying goes, but one good citizen in Berlin chose to disregard that slogan after finding a small fortune in a briefcase in the German capital, and instead did the honest thing.

German police have praised the 'honest finder' after a suitcase containing £30,000 ($39,400) in cash and 22 gold bars weighing 1kg (2.2lb) in total was handed in at a local station.

The small fortune was found under a tree, just outside a bank in the working-class neighbourhood of Neukölln.

"Amazing what you can find under a tree in Neukölln," the police said on Twitter.

The owner of the money-filled case was eventually tracked down by officers. He said he had out the case down to lock his bicycle and then forgotten all about it.

Here in Britain it would be down to the owner of the briefcase to decide whether or not to hand a reward out to the finder, but in Germany things work slightly differently.

German law states that a 'finder's fee' of between three and five percent of the value of the item(s) found must be paid to the person who hands in a lost belonging.

It's also possible that the lost and found office could charge a fee of up to 10 percent.

Back in April, police swooped on an empty flat in the Nigerian capital of Lagos after reports of a woman continually delivering bin bags to the property.

Credit: EFCC

Nigeria's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) found more than £34million in cash stashed in the flat once they gained access.

The money was believed to be from unlawful activity, but no arrests have as yet been made.

Apart from US notes worth £34m ($44.6m), investigators found nearly £27,800 ($36,500) and around 23m naira (£55,600/$73,000) at the four-bedroom flat in Lagos's affluent Ikoyi area.

Guards told law enforcement that while nobody lived at the property, their suspicions had been raised by the regular visits of a haggard looking woman in dirty clothes who regularly visited the address to drop off bags.

"She comes looking haggard, with dirty clothes but her skin didn't quite match her outward appearance, perhaps a disguise," the EFCC quoted a source as saying.

The 'neatly arranged' cash was stashed in 'sealed wrappers' and stowed away in wardrobes and cabinets in the seventh-floor flat, the EFCC added.

The find was the latest in a series of raids that have resulted in large amounts of cash being uncovered in the Nigerian capital.

Words: Paddy Maddison

Featured Image Credit: Berlin Police

Topics: Money, Germany