As others have mentioned, in Australia too, any found items (including money) that are handed into the police are returned to the finder after three months if nobody has come forward to claim the goods.
So assuming the bag is full of contraband, how many dealers are gonna come forth to lay dibs on it? And assuming the money is not in crisp, clean stolen notes that could be traced back to a robbery, then it too will be available for collection by the Good Samaratin Wot Handed it in.…no questions asked.
Whoops! Sorry, missed your follow-up question. I think here it depends on your local jurisdiction. In some places (IIRC), found money is required to be turned over to the police for a certain period of time to allow the rightful owner to claim it. After that window, you could claim it and have it legally be yours. As others have pointed out, the concept is much more straightforward than the actual bureaucratic experience is likely to be. Hell, I wouldn’t even want to have the initial conversations with DHS and the SEC.
ETA: I’m not saying this is a reason not to take the money, necessarily, but it would make me more inclined just to spend it as incidental cash than take it to a brokerage or bank.
Drug money is untraceable. I’d hold on to it for a couple of months incase Joe Pesci shows up at the door demanding the money then hand it over to him. I’d ditch the drugs of course. Then keep the cash.
If I was driving behind a Brinks truck and a bag with 10 million fell out, you might as well turn that in. You’d be track down withing weeks of spending any of that.
I’d leave authorities out of it because that would incur taxes on it for me, right? Why should I pay tax, it is not tax money lost as the criminal was not going to pay either. Rather, I’d donate some to good groups like Salvation Army myself and consider that much better use than paying taxes anyway. Besides if authorities know who has the money the crooks may well find out later. So I would want no one but me to know.
First of all I wouldn’t pick up the bag to begin with. But if I did, I’d make sure I wasn’t followed, keep the money, and dispose of bag to either the police or a safe dumpster somewhere.
I’d call a lawyer on my way to the police station and have Mr/Ms Lawyer person with me as I turn it in. Hopefully I’d get some kind of reward or money or something from it, but if I didn’t I’d be fine. I’ve got way too much OCD to not worry myself into insanity over some found money–even if I don’t get any back I’d be better off just turning it in.
