Homeowner Finds $100K, Fights For Cash Man, Wife Of Previous Homeowner Want Cash POSTED: 12:52 pm EDT September 28, 2007 UPDATED: 5:21 pm EDT September 28, 2007 SANFORD, Fla. -- What would you do if you found $100,000 in the attic of your house? Bernard Salcedo, 26, of Sanford, reported the finding to police, who are now holding the money, and he is trying to get it back. Salcedo was looking for a bad wire in his attic after the power went out when he found $100,000 in cash, starting a messy legal fight over who should get the cash. The money was hidden in a cavity cut in the insulation in four plastic bags filled with $20 and $100 bills stuffed into a strongbox. The 26-year-old computer engineer said he then recalled that someone was killed in the home four years earlier, so he called police. "We didn't know if the murderer knew about the money," Salcedo said. "We decided the best course of action was to let someone know." Now, the home's former owner is laying claim to the cash. Similar bundles of cash were found hidden in the home after Scott Quinn, a 37-year-old bail bondsman and gun dealer, was found stabbed to death in 2003. Police returned the money to the victim's estranged wife, Lana Quinn, the widow's lawyer Michael Herring said. The alleged killer, Randolph Mora, 26, overdosed on pills in prison awaiting charges in 2004. Salcedo and his wife bought the home from Quinn in 2006. Scott Quinn kept large amounts of cash because he frequently attended gun shows and made cash purchases as part of his business, Herring said. He also said Salcedo had no claim to the money, but that his client would pay an undisclosed finder's fee. Salcedo's attorney Eric Frommer insisted there was no way to prove the money belonged to Lana Quinn. Police are keeping the cash in a vault until the two sides hash things out. ************************************************** http://www.local6.com/news/14228121/detail.html
One might do what anyone with half a brain would do. Drive across the border to TJ and then book a flight to Caracas where one might easily open an account and deposit say half of ones new found gains. Then from there one might fly to Lagos, connecting to Mumbai and deposit the other half. Then chill in Goa for awhile. Whaddya stupid or something?
I am a big proponent of honesty, but you are right, what the guy did was extremely stupid. I still think it is impossible for the widow to proof this is her late husbands' money. He should get the money back.
The original owner is dead. The original owner is not going to make a claim. Good nuff for me. The guy could lose in court and owe attorney fees. I wonder if tax is due on found money. Could just go to the casino for a day, come home and tell his wife he won the money. From Wiki Treasure trove is property that consists of coins or currency hidden by the owner. To be considered treasure trove and not mislaid property, the property must have been deliberately hidden or concealed, and sufficiently long ago that the original owner can be considered dead or not discoverable. For example, under English law, 100 Roman coins found buried in a chest would be treasure trove; however, 100 Roman coins which were lost over time in a marketplace would not be treasure trove, as they were not deliberately hidden as a single hoard. Under American common law, treasure trove belongs to the finder, unless the original owner reclaims. Some states have rejected the American common law and hold that treasure trove belongs to the owner of the property in which the treasure trove was found.
After taxes and attorney fees, Salcedo won't have much left. Treasure is taxed as regular income. irs publications 525 Found property. If you find and keep property that does not belong to you that has been lost or abandoned (treasure-trove), it is taxable to you at its fair market value in the first year it is your undisputed possession. More on laws and who gets to keep it: http://goldprice.org/buying-gold/2007/07/gold-treasure-trove.html
Its weird alright. I wonder if this chap kept stashes like this when he was with his "estranged "wife? And did she know about them? Ok, follow along......estranged wife......who may have known of these stashes.........+dead ex=______ One thing for sure, the current owner will likely be doing a lot of , uh "renovation" shortly.