December 19, 2012
TOKYO (AFP) - A worker at a waste disposal site in Japan found $120,000 cash in a stream of pulverised rubbish, police said Wednesday.
"There were about a thousand 10,000 yen ($118) bills that came out of a pulveriser unscathed," said a spokesman at the Asaminami police department in Hiroshima prefecture, in the country's west.
He added that there were also 2,300 fragments of bills destroyed by the machine at a municipal facility that processes bulky waste, such as cupboards and mattresses, that cannot be collected by regular garbage pickup.
Police suspect the owner of the cash might have forgotten the money was there when they threw away some furniture.
"We believe it is unlikely there is anything criminal in this, although we must say we don't know much about this money at all," the spokesman said.
The cash was found on Monday. If no one comes forward within three months, the waste disposal facility will have the right to claim the money, the spokesman said.
