i'm sure at least half of us here have randomly found some amount of cash.  Some will have tried to return it to the owner, some might have given it to the manager if it was on business property, or even given it to the police so they can wait for someone to identify it and claim it.

Nowadays, it's probably more likely people will just keep the money and find some rationalization to assuage their guilt.

In this story, a man found a bag in a bank parking lot containing $5,000.  He decided, "Woo hoo!" and kept it.

Now he's facing 3rd degree larceny charges for finding the bag of money and not returning it.

The kicker is the money was lost by an employee of the city tax collections department who was making a deposit of tax funds.

it took months for detectives to investigate, which included reviewing surveillance video.

IMO, someone who finds a bag with deposit slips showing it was not the savings of an elderly person or single mother, but rather funds that belonged to the government, will more likely result in the money going unreturned.

Of course, if this wasn't the government's money, would he have been charged with a crime?  My guess is "no."

This is one of those cases where there questions of whether this is a matter of right, wrong, or illegal.

The way I look at it, if you find something like this then it is by definition not yours. Keeping it without making any sort of attempts to return it to the owner is basically theft because you are keeping something of someone else's that you have no right to keep. Turn it into police, post ads in the newspaper, or some other way of trying to locate the owner is the right thing to do and if genuine attempts don't turn up the owner then you have at least some grounds to keep it.

The most I ever found was $50 on the beach in front of the Rainbow Tower at 1AM when we were trimming the coconut trees there.
I split it with my employee who was riding on the golf cart with me. Once I found a wallet and two times I saw purses fall off the roof of a car driving by me.  Because they had IDs in them I was able to return them.

I found $98 in a cash envelope from a local bank.  Someone left it on top on the air hand dryer in the men's room of a Hardee's.  This was when i was in college and really needed the cash.

There was no name or other info on the envelope, so I gave the manager my name and number.  I told them to have anyone looking for lost cash call me and identify it.

I knew if I left it with the employees, the owner would never get it.  Nobody called, so after a month, I considered it found money.

Whenever I find anything of value, i always put myself in the shoes of the owners.  What would i hope someone would do if they found my wallet, cellphone, cash, etc.  i've returned all of those things and more to the owners and rarely kept it.  I even picked up $20 bills on the ground and asked the person near it if it was theirs.  They usually said it was but not always, and i did see one person drop it before giving it to them.  Most people will tell the truth when asked on the spot -- no time to think about it beore answering.

The safest thing to do is turn the money over to the police department. If no one claims it after something like 45 days the finder gets to take the money.

The safest thing to do is turn the money over to the police department. If no one claims it after something like 45 days the finder gets to take the money.

Or for HPD, you can call (808) 723-3270 for questions regarding lost and found property. (Evidence Room).

I'd recommend calling before just walking in and turning it over unannounced. 

If I found a bank type bag in the parking lot with deposit slips along with the money I would turn it in to the bank.  But I would turn it in to the Bank Manager instead of just any teller.  Just for my peace of mind.

I always fantasized about finding an unmarked envelope filled to the brim with money on the side of the road in the bushes somewhere.  Or better yet a duffel bag.

My best fantasy is being at a craps table and the shooter rolls for over 3 hours.

Or for HPD, you can call (808) 723-3270 for questions regarding lost and found property. (Evidence Room).

I'd recommend calling before just walking in and turning it over unannounced.

Call 911 and an officer will come to you. I wouldn't want to walk around with $5k either.

Call 911 and an officer will come to you. I wouldn't want to walk around with $5k either.

Why not?

If you say you were on your way to the bank to return it and accidentally lost it, what could they do?  Chances are, since it's tax money, there's no reward, and you probably won't be able to keep it a secret anyway.

Just don't deposit it in your bank account! 

I recommend a trip to Vegas.  If you come back with more than $5000, consider it God's way of rewarding your good, albeit late, deed.

Why not?

If you say you were on your way to the bank to return it and accidentally lost it, what could they do?  Chances are, since it's tax money, there's no reward, and you probably won't be able to keep it a secret anyway.

Just don't deposit it in your bank account! 

I recommend a trip to Vegas.  If you come back with more than $5000, consider it God's way of rewarding your good, albeit late, deed.

If you turn it over to the police and no one claims it then it becomes your money, documented and everything.
If you "lost" it on the way to returning it someone could always question your actions.

The way I look at it, if you find something like this then it is by definition not yours. Keeping it without making any sort of attempts to return it to the owner is basically theft because you are keeping something of someone else's that you have no right to keep. Turn it into police, post ads in the newspaper, or some other way of trying to locate the owner is the right thing to do and if genuine attempts don't turn up the owner then you have at least some grounds to keep it.

I wouldn't take out an ad as that will cost you money.

I believe in doing the right thing. So even though it's an IRS cash, probably from stolen money, I would still reach out to them direct instead of calling HPD. THen if I cannot get ahold of someone, then call HPD and have an officer come to my home to pick it up as I don't want to spend time dropping it off. I would tell any officer sent to bring receipts and video the interaction.

Also due to the sensitive places law, I would not be able to CCW to HPD station to turn in said cash as it's a C&C building/property.  I mean, if I really wanted to be spiteful, I could do it from the side walk and count the cash to them on the sidewalk to verify the amount. That would be a sight to see.