SHARE
COPY LINK

CRIME

Schoolchildren give away almost €15,000 found on the street

Four Frankfurt children found €15,000 in an old brown envelope on their way to school and then passed it out to all of their friends this week, a police spokesman told The Local on Thursday.

Schoolchildren give away almost €15,000 found on the street
Photo: DPA

The two boys and two girls between the ages of 10 and 13-years-old couldn’t believe their luck when they noticed the bundle on Espenstrasse en route to their Griesheim district school early on Tuesday morning.

When they opened it they found €15,000 and paperwork for a visa in China.

“They threw the envelope away and excitedly took the money and papers to school,” spokesperson Karlheinz Wagner told The Local.

There they distributed the money among their friends, but it wasn’t long before they began to feel uneasy and one of the group told a teacher what they had done.

“They will not be prosecuted or punished at school,” Wagner said. “They realised after awhile that it was wrong and came clean. And besides, they’re children.”

But collecting the money back from students proved to be much more difficult than its distribution, he confirmed.

By the time police arrived at the school, school authorities had collected only €12,000 and had to appeal to the students once again to return the money. They ended up with €14,040.

In the meantime police had contacted the owner of the identification the children found in the envelope. The 33-year-old Afghan citizen, who has lived in Offenbach for some time, told police that he had lost about €15,000, but couldn’t name the exact sum. He said the money was to pay a trip to China, tuition fees there, and to cover debt.

“If he can provide proof, such as bank account details, and investigators determine that he didn’t acquire the money illegally, he can have it back,” Wagner said.

German law dictates that anyone who discovers a large sum of money is entitled to three percent – which will go to the children when the owner is confirmed.

But if police don’t find the rightful owner the money will go to a lost property office.

“If no one claims it within a year or so the children will get the money,” Wagner said.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

BUSINESS

Elon Musk visits Tesla’s sabotage-hit German factory

Elon Musk travelled Wednesday to Tesla's factory near Berlin to lend his workers "support" after the plant was forced to halt production by a suspected arson attack on nearby power lines.

Elon Musk visits Tesla's sabotage-hit German factory

The Tesla CEO addressed thousands of employees on arrival at the site, accusing “eco-terrorists” of the sabotage as he defended his company’s green credentials.

With his son X AE A-XII in his arms, Musk said: “I am here to support you.”

The billionaire’s visit came a week after power lines supplying the electric carmaker’s only European plant were set on fire in an act of sabotage claimed by a far-left group called the Vulkangruppe (Volcano Group).

READ ALSO: Far-left group claims ‘sabotage’ on Tesla’s German factory

Musk had said then that the attack was “extremely dumb”, while the company said it would cost it several hundred million euros.

A week on, the lights have come back on at the site, but Andre Thierig, who heads the site, said on LinkedIn that it would “take a bit of time” before production is back to full speed.

Industry experts have warned that the reputational impact caused by the sabotage on the region could be more severe than the losses suffered by Tesla.

Tesla’s German plant started production in 2022 following an arduous two-year approval and construction process dogged by administrative and legal obstacles.

Tesla wants to expand the site by 170 hectares and boost production up to one million vehicles annually to feed Europe’s growing demand for electric cars and take on rivals who are shifting away from combustion engine vehicles.

But the plans have annoyed local residents, who voted against the project in a non-binding ballot last month.

After the vote, Tesla said it might have to rethink the plans. Environmental activists opposed to the expansion of the factory have recently also set up a camp in a wooded area near the plant.

READ ALSO: Why is Tesla’s expansion near Berlin so controversial?

SHOW COMMENTS