Money rains from the sky: what some people dream of has happened in Mainz. The background to the "hail of banknotes" was initially unclear. The authorities warn: You can't simply keep such certificates.
Mainz (dpa / lrs) - banknotes worth at least 50,000 euros fluttered out of a high-rise building in Mainz. As the police announced on Tuesday, several residents of the high-rise complex reported the "extraordinary storm" on Monday afternoon. Residents have already collected a five-digit amount and handed it over to the police. A spokeswoman stressed that pocketing the banknotes is not allowed. It is a case of embezzlement, which could lead to a fine or imprisonment.
The owner of the large sum of money is still unknown. So far, no one has reported, said the spokeswoman. If the owner does not report by Tuesday, the money will be handed over to the lost and found office of the city of Mainz. The rightful owner can collect the money upon presentation of appropriate proof.
According to the police, it was unclear from which building the rain of money came and why the banknotes had flown out of the house. "The suspicions range from money sewn into a pillow that accidentally fell out when you banged it to money that came from a crime," it said. Südwestrundfunk had previously reported.
"I suspect that the facts of the misappropriation of finds are not known to everyone," said legal expert Jennifer Vanessa Kaiser of the German Press Agency. A bank note is a "foreign movable thing" within the meaning of the law. "If I simply pocket the bill, I'm embezzling it from a purely legal point of view. Then there could be a fine or even imprisonment for up to three years." Such a found item should be handed in to the police or the lost and found office. "A graduated finder's reward is also regulated by law," said Kaiser in Ingelheim am Rhein.
