25 Million Won Found in Garbage Bag, but No Owner Comes Forward... Money Deposited into Original Finder's Account

[Financial News] A garbage bag containing 25 million won in cash was found in a residential neighborhood in Incheon Metropolitan City, but the owner never came forward, so ownership passed to the original finder.

According to Jemulpo Police Station on the 2nd, 25 million won in unexplained cash was found on February 10 in a 20-liter pay-as-you-throw garbage bag discarded beside a villa in Geumgok-dong, Jemulpo-gu, Incheon Metropolitan City.
The cash was covered with clothing and bundled in stacks of 100 50,000-won bills, each wrapped with a Bank of Korea (BOK) band.
A, who is in their 60s, found the bundles of cash while checking the garbage bag to collect discarded clothing and reported them to the police.
After a substantial amount of cash was found in the garbage bag, police began investigating the owner's identity and whether the money was linked to a crime. They first posted notices about the recovered property on the National Police Lost Property Portal and in a local newspaper, and also put up flyers around the location where it was found.
They also visited dozens of nearby homes and thoroughly checked whether anyone had reported losing cash, but no one claimed ownership.
The police were unable to obtain biometric evidence through fingerprint analysis that could identify the owner, and footage from nearby closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras showed no unusual activity.
While various speculations arose about the source of the money, six months passed without the owner coming forward.

Under the law, ownership of lost property passes to the finder if the owner does not claim it within six months after the notice is posted.
Accordingly, A was confirmed to have received 19.23 million won by bank transfer last August, after 5.77 million won was deducted from the 25 million won for the 22% tax, local newspaper notice costs and other expenses.
A obtained ownership as the original finder because they did not fall under any disqualifying circumstances, such as failing to report or surrender the lost property within seven days of finding it.
A police official said, "The cash was confirmed not to be connected to a crime, but its owner never came forward. We held the cash in state custody and paid it to A."
[email protected] Ahn Ga-eul Reporter