Finders are not keepers, Australian cops tell couple

MELBOURNE - A couple who paid a few dollars for a second-hand suitcase that had up to $100,000 hidden in its lining have been charged with “theft by finding” in this Australian city, police said.

The suitcase was donated to the Melbourne Salvation Army store in Beaconsfield by a woman who wasn’t aware that her husband had hidden the cash in the bag’s lining, The Age reported Wednesday.

Salvation Army spokesperson Major Brad Halse said that the man contacted them last Tuesday in an effort to get back the suitcase but it had already been sold by then.

“He said his family had cleaned out a room and donated some goods. One of the items was a suitcase with a very significant amount of money in it. I guess sometimes people store things of value in unusual places,” Halse was quoted as saying.

He said the cash was in the “tens of thousands of dollars”.

Victoria Police have said that a 44-year-old man and a 34-year-old woman have been charged. The police have also recovered most of the money that had been placed in different bank accounts.