More than 50 people tried to claim large sum of lost cash: RCMP

Police in North Vancouver say that they’re disappointed after more than 50 people tried to claim a large amount of misplaced cash.

Nearly one week ago, a good Samaritan turned over “a large sum of cash” to the front office of the North Vancouver RCMP. A photo was initially shared with the public, with police hoping to reunite the money with its rightful owner.

The owner would also have to tell police the exact amount and denominations of the money in the envelope and provide a “reasonable explanation of when, where, and how they lost it.”

“And no, telling us the bills are rectangular, or that they’re in denominations of either $5, $10, $20, $50, or $100 won’t cut it,” said Sergeant Peter DeVries of the North Vancouver RCMP.

• See also: 
  • BC government outlines new SkyTrain to North Shore form Vancouver (MAPS)
  • Vancouver activates several “cleaner air” spaces as smoke continues
  • Ground-level smoke may remain “until later this week”: Environment Canada

DeVries said that they were able to find the rightful owner of the money, which was a sum of $2,600 — but not before going through “50 cash-hungry contestants.”

“We were really happy to hand the money back,” DeVries said in a statement. “Unfortunately for our call takers, this weekend was like a marathon episode of The Price Is Right.”

“Did 50 people lose large sums of cash in North Vancouver recently? I don’t think so,” said DeVries. “I thought we had made it clear we didn’t want people to play the guessing game.”

Police said that the owner was able to share the exact amount and denominations of the bills, as well as an accurate description of where they thought they had lost it. They also want to commend the Good Samaritan, who did “the right thing by turning the money in.”

“While it’s disappointing to think there are people out there who might not have turned the money in, it is plain despicable to see people falsely claim ownership,” said DeVries. “The focus of this story should be on their good and right actions.”

When property is turned over to the police, it is held for three months if it’s valued under $5,000, and nine months if it’s over $5,000. If the owner can’t be found after the allotted period of time and it’s not required for an investigation, it’s turned over to the province.