Japanese Waste Worker Finds £300,000 In Waste

A 63-year-old employee of a Japanese waste collection facility , found Y42.5 million (£300,000) in cash in a rubbish disposal plant.

Police were informed of the discovery,and are treating the matter as a case of lost property,a newspaper reported.

Authorities are calling on anyone who believes the money may belong to them to come forward, although they are refusing to provide further details on the container the money was found in to eliminate false claims.

Similar discoveries are a fairly frequent occurrence in Japan – although the amount of money involved in this latest incident is larger than usual.                                                                    In late 2012, the remains of bank notes totalling Y10 million were discovered after emerging from a pulveriser at a waste disposal plant in Hiroshima. Police eventually recovered 2,300 particles of bills and concluded they had been hidden in an item of household furniture and forgotten by the owner.

Some years previously, staff of a waste disposal facility in Gifu Prefecture found Y6.85 million in banknotes and coins that had been deliberately torn or bent.

By law, anyone who finds money and hands it in to police is entitled to a reward of between 5 percent and 20 percent of the total if the owner comes forward. If the cash is unclaimed after three months, however, the finder is permitted to keep it all.