A woman in Poland faces up to one year in prison after taking a chest of drawers left at a rubbish dump and keeping more than 50,000 euros hidden inside, according to police and local reports.
The piece of furniture was thrown away by residents in the village of Warzymice, who had forgotten that their cash savings were concealed inside the unit before putting it out with the trash, Polish news broadcaster TVN24 reported.
Inside the discarded chest of drawers was a cash stash total comprising more than 50,000 euros alongside several tens of thousands of Polish zlotys. When the woman found the abandoned furniture, she decided to take it home for herself, but after discovering the hidden money, she chose to keep the entire sum.
Warzymice is a residential village located in northwestern Poland, situated near the German border in the West Pomeranian region. Poland uses the zloty as its official currency, though large transactions and personal savings across Central Europe are often kept in euros. Commercial network TVN24, which reported the incident, operates as one of Poland's main national television stations.
Police Investigation and Recovery
The original owners only realized what had happened after remembering where their hidden funds were stored. Upon discovering that the chest of drawers had already been taken from the rubbish site, they immediately alerted local law enforcement officers.
Detectives launched an investigation by analyzing surveillance camera footage from around the waste collection area and interviewing local witnesses. Their inquiries enabled officers to trace the movement of the furniture and locate the woman's apartment.
Police officers searched the premises, discovered the full amount of cash inside the flat, and returned all of the recovered money to the rightful owners.
The woman who took the chest of drawers has been charged with the illegal misappropriation of found property. She now faces potential penalties that include a fine, restriction of liberty, or up to one year in prison.
The incident comes after a similar mistake in Zavitinsk, in Russia's Amur Oblast, where a young woman accidentally threw away six million rubles that she had inherited.
