“Found Money: What You Need to Know According to the Law”

“Actually, you should report everything you find on the street to the town hall. Also money”, says Sharon Beavis, spokesperson for FPS Justice. “According to the law, as a finder you must try to identify the owner. If that does not work, you must report it to the municipality within seven days of the discovery.” So you don’t bring found money to the police, but go to the municipality for it. It registers your find. Sometimes you can keep track of the money yourself, otherwise the municipality will do that.

It is of course difficult to find the rightful owner of a money note. “The owner has five years to reclaim his or her property,” says Beavis. “If it does not show up after five years, the finder or the municipality, as the case may be, becomes the owner of the object.” If you do not report your find, you can never become the new, rightful owner.

It is tempting to simply keep or even spend the money you have found. After all, no one goes looking for a 5 euro note. But it is indeed punishable: “You can be punished for the crime of ‘fraudulent concealment’. That means appropriating something from someone else that came into your possession by chance. The sentences range from a prison sentence of eight days to two years and a fine of 26 euros to 500 euros,” says Tom Cielen, lawyer at Reyns Advocaten.

If you are honest enough to hand over a full wallet to the counter of your municipality or find the owner, do you have a chance of a reward? “The honest finder is not always left empty-handed. In certain cases, the owner will have to pay a reasonable reward to the finder,” says lawyer Cielen. What that reasonable remuneration entails depends on each case.

At the end of last year, Haribo caused a lot of frowns because it gave six bags of candy to the finder of their check for 4.6 million euros. Unfortunately, according to Beavis, you are not entitled to a finder’s fee when money is involved. But if the owner is familiar with etiquette, you might be able to get some tucked in. So it’s best to just report it, and with a bit of luck you’ll still get a reward.

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