That lucky bastard. I would take it and hide it somewhere else, a little at a time. I might deposit some of it in small amounts but I think mostly I would just spend it on stuff. Stuff that I could buy from people who took cash. And then hide the rest in a safety deposit box, my mattress, my shed, etc. Not all in one place. And definitely not all where the government could monitor it.
I would find the person that owned the field and figure out if I deemed them a good person or an ass. If I like them I will tell them I found the money and give it to them in trust they will do something good with it. If they are an ass I will take the money and give them the finger. Then I will spread it out among all my friends and relatives without saying where it came from.
Dana... If you report it to the police they might ask you why you were trespassing. Besides what right do the cops have to the money? It's not a crime....LOL
KaritaG... Seems like you are worried about the possible taxes.
Knight... If they are an ass I will take the money and give them the finger LOL!
I would find out who owned the field and try and buy it from them. Then I would use some to pay off debt, pay for my kids college, help needy relatives, take a vacation, and do something for charity.
I would call the F.B.I., call them right then and there. That money has to be stolen from somewhere and probably traceable. If I'm lucky and karma deems me worthy, maybe I'll get a reward. I probably wouldn't be able to keep it if it was untraceable because I would have been tresspassing when I found it, damn.
The biggest problem lies with the fact that the money is decaying for me. Something HAS to be done with it because it will deteriorate. Obviously it has been there a long time and no one is coming for it. I would probably take some and then try and buy the field. But changing it for good money slowly like the guy in the article raises suspicions. Doing it all at one time will get you slapped with a ton of taxes and publicity like this guy has... however you can't just hold on to it because it may fall apart and be worthless....
Lu.. Unless the money is specifically banded with marked bands from a bank or currency changer then it's really hard to prove one stack of cash from another. Try proving that cash is from a drug deal or a bank heist. The feds have the money from this guy in teh article and they can't prove where it came from. Traceable money is a fallcy. TRUST ME - Tracing money is actually my hobby!
Maybe it was a pay off for a kidnapping that when terribly terribly wrong. The serial numbers for the money had been recorded to capture the perpetrators once they began spending their ill gotten gains. Maybe huh, it could happen...
Hey Mt Cat, whasamattayou, help the folks at home. Why do rich folks whant to spend their money somewhere else? You can't tell me there aren't a crap load of Americans in a bad way. What's this? A soap box? Oops I'd better hop off.
Well, the law does allow for some "finders/keepers" rules. Depending on how long the money has been there and who knew and what the property was used for, etc.
Basically, I would call the police hope that I could get to keep it or at least a nice reward.
I think I'd take a couple of thousand of it. Then go to a few local banks with some to each and have the bills exchanged, you know like, could I exchange these twentys for five, one hundred dollar bills please? Then I'd sit it out for awhile and not spend those hundreds. If after awhile nothing came of it, I'd snatch the 5 million and never look back!!!
This is a tough one. I would first of all (cause I'm paranoid) wonder if someone was watching me, cause really, what kind of person has THAT much money in their field, unless they are with the mob! And they could have hidden cameras! What if I start digging and I'm shot in the back? What if I take somne money and they have it lined with poison!
Okay, I would have to leave it, then worry for weeks on end that someone KNOWS I saw it and they want me dead but are waiting for just the right time to sneak in and pull my nails out, one by one, until they are happy with the fact that I told no one, and then they would shot me, execution style.
Ok, so keeping found money is a crime - BUT if you turn it in and it can't be traced in a certain amount of time (it varies by state) then you get to keep it all with no guilt and no looking over your shoulder...
That much money hidden can't be legal, so you probably wouldn't get to keep it all once it was traced back to its bloody roots but you'd probably get a pretty hefty reward.
I like to think that I'd remember all of those things and go get the cops and bring them to the spot where I found it.
But I'd probably fly to Switzerland and open a bank account, get someone to invest most of it and live off the dividends while I traveled around Europe, Africa and Asia.
Wow I would probally have to discuss it with the hubby. I wouldn't have he slightest of what to do. I do know from working in several financial institutions that the money is hard to trace. But I have to say the right thing is to call someone and turn it in. But the devil inside says take the money and run!
Money being buried does not automaticly have a label of stolen or corrupt. Lots of people bury money, I use to bury mine [not that much] and if something had happened to me, well, there it would have been till someone found it. The issue is the property owner and does he know about it? I know someone who found a rusty tin full of silver coins from the early 1800's. Someone had obviously buried them and they got forgotten for a very long time. Maybe it was from the slave trade huh? Right or wrong, money is what corrupts people and if I was tempted with 5 mill. I know myself well enough, under certian risks, or non risks, I could be corrupted. Hallyluya go buy me a hula.
July 29, 2008 at 2:49 PM
Anonymous said...
I would probably take enough $$ to try and buy the field with it...and then own the rest!
...and if that didn't pan out, I'd probably call the FBI.
What I meant to say is: If you found this much cash in this bad of shape you would have to turn it in. The stuff wasn't usable as it was. However, the smart money would be to turn it all in at once, let the gov't do a full body cavity search on you and then they would let you keep it. The money was all 40 years old.
Now, the real question is what would I do if I found a large sum of perfectly good cash that could be spent in any way possible, that I was sure was from some illegal deal gone bad? Easy, open a business that does a lot of cash sales, like a bar, and then over 10 years time bring the money in a little at a time, making sure to pay all taxes and then just live the good life.
If I wasn't sure it was from some illegal deal, I would definetely call the cops and let them sort it out. Always watching to make sure that if it couldn't be placed that I would claim it.
July 30, 2008 at 6:42 PM
[Image]Tuesday Word game is taking a couple of weeks off while I am on vacation and travelling next week. It will return on August 12. In the meantime I stumbled across this article about a guy who has mysteriously been depositing millions of dollars in decomposing money over the course of a few years and he has no good responses about where it came from. Maybe from a buried treasure in Mexico maybe from a land deal. Who knows?
After reading this article and a blog post by Dana yesterday my question for you is this. Lets say that you stumbled upon over 5 million dollars of old worn out money in a field somewhere while you were out walking. This field is private property but not owned by you. What would you do? The whole process... from start to finish. Leave it? Take it and try to deposit it? Store it somewhere? Try to buy the field? Take just some of it? Hide it elsewhere yourself? What is your plan? How will you answer if people start asking questions? Will you tell your family and friends? What would you spend it on? Give it some thought and tell me a story about how and what you will do with the money.
48 Comments
Close this window Jump to comment formAnd to think, I was having moral issues with just $60!
$5 Million? I'd have no other option than to report it to the authorities (local police). It just wouldn't be right to do anything else ... really ...
July 29, 2008 at 12:15 PM
That lucky bastard. I would take it and hide it somewhere else, a little at a time. I might deposit some of it in small amounts but I think mostly I would just spend it on stuff. Stuff that I could buy from people who took cash. And then hide the rest in a safety deposit box, my mattress, my shed, etc. Not all in one place. And definitely not all where the government could monitor it.
July 29, 2008 at 12:16 PM
I would find the person that owned the field and figure out if I deemed them a good person or an ass. If I like them I will tell them I found the money and give it to them in trust they will do something good with it. If they are an ass I will take the money and give them the finger. Then I will spread it out among all my friends and relatives without saying where it came from.
July 29, 2008 at 12:29 PM
Dana... If you report it to the police they might ask you why you were trespassing. Besides what right do the cops have to the money? It's not a crime....LOL
KaritaG... Seems like you are worried about the possible taxes.
Knight... If they are an ass I will take the money and give them the finger LOL!
July 29, 2008 at 12:34 PM
I would find out who owned the field and try and buy it from them. Then I would use some to pay off debt, pay for my kids college, help needy relatives, take a vacation, and do something for charity.
July 29, 2008 at 12:35 PM
I would call the F.B.I., call them right then and there. That money has to be stolen from somewhere and probably traceable. If I'm lucky and karma deems me worthy, maybe I'll get a reward. I probably wouldn't be able to keep it if it was untraceable because I would have been tresspassing when I found it, damn.
July 29, 2008 at 12:35 PM
I would leave it. I saw No Country for Old Men and I saw what happened to Llewelyn Moss after he took the money.
And, I wouldn't tell the "authorities" because they would just assume I was the guilty party and that would bring on way too many problems.
So, I would just leave it.
July 29, 2008 at 12:40 PM
Apple... I figured you would move back to Wisconsin and buy a cheeze curd business... LOL!
Lu... Money isn't nearly as traceable as many people think it is...
Jay... I am just flat out calling B.S. on you!
July 29, 2008 at 12:42 PM
Doc, I think it is more traceable than people think. A sum of money like that has got to be traceable. Unless Bonnie and Clyde burried it there.
July 29, 2008 at 12:46 PM
The biggest problem lies with the fact that the money is decaying for me. Something HAS to be done with it because it will deteriorate. Obviously it has been there a long time and no one is coming for it. I would probably take some and then try and buy the field. But changing it for good money slowly like the guy in the article raises suspicions. Doing it all at one time will get you slapped with a ton of taxes and publicity like this guy has... however you can't just hold on to it because it may fall apart and be worthless....
July 29, 2008 at 12:48 PM
I would keep the money and set up a trust fund for the impoverished youth of the Aborigines.
July 29, 2008 at 12:51 PM
Lu.. Unless the money is specifically banded with marked bands from a bank or currency changer then it's really hard to prove one stack of cash from another. Try proving that cash is from a drug deal or a bank heist. The feds have the money from this guy in teh article and they can't prove where it came from. Traceable money is a fallcy. TRUST ME - Tracing money is actually my hobby!
July 29, 2008 at 12:52 PM
Maybe it was a pay off for a kidnapping that when terribly terribly wrong. The serial numbers for the money had been recorded to capture the perpetrators once they began spending their ill gotten gains. Maybe huh, it could happen...
Hey Mt Cat, whasamattayou, help the folks at home. Why do rich folks whant to spend their money somewhere else? You can't tell me there aren't a crap load of Americans in a bad way. What's this? A soap box? Oops I'd better hop off.
July 29, 2008 at 1:00 PM
Lu', Ok ok ok! How about I use the moeny to help build an oil pipeline from Iraq...oh wait that's already been done.
July 29, 2008 at 1:09 PM
BTW - Vin Aborigonies don't want your help... LOL
July 29, 2008 at 1:12 PM
Well, the law does allow for some "finders/keepers" rules. Depending on how long the money has been there and who knew and what the property was used for, etc.
Basically, I would call the police hope that I could get to keep it or at least a nice reward.
July 29, 2008 at 1:14 PM
I think I'd take a couple of thousand of it. Then go to a few local banks with some to each and have the bills exchanged, you know like, could I exchange these twentys for five, one hundred dollar bills please?
Then I'd sit it out for awhile and not spend those hundreds.
If after awhile nothing came of it, I'd snatch the 5 million and never look back!!!
July 29, 2008 at 1:22 PM
Does that make me a bad person?
July 29, 2008 at 1:27 PM
This post has been removed by the author.
Are we all having a bad typing day?
July 29, 2008 at 1:36 PM
TMC: I only did it once.
July 29, 2008 at 1:37 PM
Jay - Very, very good point about No Country For Old Men. I forgot about that.
July 29, 2008 at 1:48 PM
This is a tough one. I would first of all (cause I'm paranoid) wonder if someone was watching me, cause really, what kind of person has THAT much money in their field, unless they are with the mob! And they could have hidden cameras! What if I start digging and I'm shot in the back? What if I take somne money and they have it lined with poison!
Okay, I would have to leave it, then worry for weeks on end that someone KNOWS I saw it and they want me dead but are waiting for just the right time to sneak in and pull my nails out, one by one, until they are happy with the fact that I told no one, and then they would shot me, execution style.
Okay, does that answer the question?
July 29, 2008 at 1:58 PM
Ok, so keeping found money is a crime - BUT if you turn it in and it can't be traced in a certain amount of time (it varies by state) then you get to keep it all with no guilt and no looking over your shoulder...
That much money hidden can't be legal, so you probably wouldn't get to keep it all once it was traced back to its bloody roots but you'd probably get a pretty hefty reward.
I like to think that I'd remember all of those things and go get the cops and bring them to the spot where I found it.
But I'd probably fly to Switzerland and open a bank account, get someone to invest most of it and live off the dividends while I traveled around Europe, Africa and Asia.
July 29, 2008 at 2:11 PM
I wouldn't know what in the world to do in that situation. Who do you even report that to?
July 29, 2008 at 2:14 PM
Wow I would probally have to discuss it with the hubby. I wouldn't have he slightest of what to do. I do know from working in several financial institutions that the money is hard to trace. But I have to say the right thing is to call someone and turn it in. But the devil inside says take the money and run!
July 29, 2008 at 2:48 PM
Money being buried does not automaticly have a label of stolen or corrupt. Lots of people bury money, I use to bury mine [not that much] and if something had happened to me, well, there it would have been till someone found it.
The issue is the property owner and does he know about it?
I know someone who found a rusty tin full of silver coins from the early 1800's. Someone had obviously buried them and they got forgotten for a very long time. Maybe it was from the slave trade huh?
Right or wrong, money is what corrupts people and if I was tempted with 5 mill. I know myself well enough, under certian risks, or non risks, I could be corrupted.
Hallyluya go buy me a hula.
July 29, 2008 at 2:49 PM
I would probably take enough $$ to try and buy the field with it...and then own the rest!
...and if that didn't pan out, I'd probably call the FBI.
But boy, the temptation might kill me! ; )
July 29, 2008 at 3:00 PM
California is falling into the ocean!!! We must save Jahooni!
July 29, 2008 at 3:08 PM
Interesting... Doc and Leapo would steal some of the money to try and legaly steal the field full of money. LOL
July 29, 2008 at 3:11 PM
California is falling into the ocean!!! We must save Jahooni!
Where has she been? Did she fall in?
July 29, 2008 at 3:13 PM
Micky - I wouldn't be legally stealing the field full of money...I want to buy the field and by default the money would be mine!
A good consumer always knows what he/she is paying for...! ; )
July 29, 2008 at 3:18 PM
Got an e-mail from her yesterday, she's OK, trying to keep her head above water. [seriously]
July 29, 2008 at 3:19 PM
Leapo: LMAO... sure just like the car dealer today trying to legally sell me a 7000 dollar truck for 14 thousand dollars. Ha Ha
July 29, 2008 at 3:21 PM
LOL! Only it would be the other way around...as the consumer, I'd get the better end of the deal! Nobody ever gets mad about a good deal...LOL! = )
July 29, 2008 at 3:26 PM
Leapo: And the landowner? will you supply the KY jelly? LOL
July 29, 2008 at 3:33 PM
LMAO!! It's the least I could do...!! ...and maybe I'll slip him a few bucks after the deal closes, too...good karma! ; )
July 29, 2008 at 3:58 PM
Leave it on the dresser! Karma the maid will happy to get it!
July 29, 2008 at 4:36 PM
Quck Jahooni is drowning! Throw in Leighann as a floatation device!
(I guess Leighann's computer is still broken?)
July 29, 2008 at 4:39 PM
Hey banana beaver what is the BFF?
July 29, 2008 at 4:50 PM
Your analogies don't work - Micky T. I didn't say any buried money would have to be illegal - I said that that amount of money probably was.
But thanks for the snark.
July 29, 2008 at 4:50 PM
MT,
Banana
Fried
Friend
July 29, 2008 at 5:04 PM
Oooohhhhh...I was thoroughly confused! Now I get it...TMC IS the Banana Beaver Micky was referring to - and BFF is in the pic!! LOLOL!!!
July 29, 2008 at 5:28 PM
Oh...and Mt. Cat said he's divorcing me! We'll just see about that...you WIll live to regret it! :-P
July 29, 2008 at 5:30 PM
WNG: duly noted. It just seemed everybody was assuming it was tainted money.
What's a snark?
July 29, 2008 at 5:30 PM
I am moving my cubical (snicker)
July 29, 2008 at 5:50 PM
I'd keep it...yep the whole lot...
I'd quit my job for a while and travel the world...only coming back home to store up on more cash..and be off again...
Lifes short...play hard I say....
x
July 29, 2008 at 9:48 PM
d
July 30, 2008 at 6:37 PM
Opps...
What I meant to say is: If you found this much cash in this bad of shape you would have to turn it in. The stuff wasn't usable as it was. However, the smart money would be to turn it all in at once, let the gov't do a full body cavity search on you and then they would let you keep it. The money was all 40 years old.
Now, the real question is what would I do if I found a large sum of perfectly good cash that could be spent in any way possible, that I was sure was from some illegal deal gone bad? Easy, open a business that does a lot of cash sales, like a bar, and then over 10 years time bring the money in a little at a time, making sure to pay all taxes and then just live the good life.
If I wasn't sure it was from some illegal deal, I would definetely call the cops and let them sort it out. Always watching to make sure that if it couldn't be placed that I would claim it.
July 30, 2008 at 6:42 PM