The inhabitants of the town of Mainz (Germany) witnessed an unprecedented event last Monday, May 23. From a skyscraper in the municipality, the residents of the municipality observed how a “rain” of banknotes worth around 50,000 euros.
After the notes fell, passers-by gathered all the money to return it to the Police. Local authorities do not know who was the author of the eventsas well as the reason why this event took place and the building from which the amount of money mentioned above fell, although they are already working on the investigation of what happened and they handle different hypotheses.
“The lines of research range from savings kept ‘under the mattress’, to the possibility that the money came from criminal activities“, expressed the agents who, at the same time, reported that no one has appeared at the police station to claim the money. In fact, the money has gone to the city’s lost property office, where its legitimate owner can collect the money provided that it proves sufficient evidence that it belongs to him.
In Germany, appropriating someone else’s money found on public roads means incurring a crime of misappropriation. As stated in article 246 of the nineteenth section of the German Penal Code“anyone who improperly appropriates someone else’s movable thing or assigns it to another, will be punished with custodial sentence of up to three yearsor with a fine if the act is not punished with a more serious penalty in other provisions”.
In fact, it is not the first time that an event of these characteristics has happened in Germany. Seven years ago, in Cologne there was also a rain of banknotes worth 3,500 euros by a German couple, with the aim of creating a “common fund” that would allow the fight against poverty, hunger and war.
Misappropriation, included in the Penal Code
In the case of Spain, misappropriation is also included in the Penal Code. Specifically, in article 234, the following is mentioned. “Whoever, for profit, takes other people’s personal property without the will of its owner will be punished, as guilty of theft, with the prison sentence of six to eighteen months if the amount of what was stolen exceeds 400 euros“.
If said amount is less than 400 euros, as stated in the same article, a fine of one to three months is imposed, except in the event of any of the cases mentioned in article 235 of the Penal Code.