Man fined after returning more than £10,000 in cash.

[Trekker4747]

But does his lie matter in terms of the law? It may matter to the bank for finding out who lost the money but in terms of the law his lie has no impact on any investigation. The money wasn't stolen, it was all returned so no crime was committed so where's the obstruction of justice?

 

[Cakemixo]

I wouldn't have even touched the bag. I'd call the bank and tell them to come get it.

Ditto, but I may have wanted to stay and try and get a finders reward.

 

[Chris3123]

But does his lie matter in terms of the law?

Yes. He lied on a police report, and lying in a police report is against the law.

It may matter to the bank for finding out who lost the money but in terms of the law his lie has no impact on any investigation.

I admit that I'm not too familiar with British law, but considering he did get a fine for it, I think it's safe to say that lying in a police report is illegal period, regardless of the relevance of the information to any investigation.

The money wasn't stolen, it was all returned

Irrelevant. The fine had nothing to do with the money.

so no crime was committed

Lying in the police report was the crime.

so where's the obstruction of justice?

There wasn't any. But then his charge had nothing to do with obstruction anyway, so I don't see the relevance of the question.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I wouldn't have even touched the bag. I'd call the bank and tell them to come get it.

Ditto, but I may have wanted to stay and try and get a finders reward.

I would probably stay as well, just to make sure nobody else stole the money before the bank could get it back (plus it would look less suspicious). A reward would be rather unlikely.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Aren't there always phones attached to ATMs that put you directly in touch with the bank?

I don't think I've ever seen an ATM which had a phone attached.

they're usually on the side of the ATM. But only on the portable ones. Those that are built into a wall only have a phone number you can call.

Portable ATMs?

I haven't used a lot of ATMs, but the ones in bank foyers always (to my knowledge) have a phone in the wall that goes directly to a help line in case the proper amount of money doesn't come out or something.

 

[Gov Kodos]

That's rather petty and vindictive, and folks wonder why some give the police so little co-operation or trust.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Irrelevant. The fine had nothing to do with the money.

I'll go farther and add that, had he kept some of the money, he would be facing far, far worse than a fine.

 

[ares93]

Portable ATMs?

I haven't used a lot of ATMs, but the ones in bank foyers always (to my knowledge) have a phone in the wall that goes directly to a help line in case the proper amount of money doesn't come out or something.

Built in ATM:

Portable/Mobile ATM (There are even more compact ones):

I once saw ten of these on a lorry. Two days later, i read in the paper that two men dressed as repairmen stole ATM's in the entire city.

 

[Trekker4747]

Irrelevant. The fine had nothing to do with the money.

I'll go farther and add that, had he kept some of the money, he would be facing far, far worse than a fine.

Would he? If the money is "lost" then wouldn't it be finders keepers? If I drop a $100 bill on the ground and someone comes up behind me and takes it did he steal it from me?

 

[Amaris]

This is the smallest ATM I've seen. You find them mostly in convenience stores:

The ATM sign comes to about the level of my chest (I'm 5'10').

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Aren't there always phones attached to ATMs that put you directly in touch with the bank?

I don't think I've ever seen an ATM which had a phone attached.

I haven't seen one like that either.

If the money is "lost" then wouldn't it be finders keepers?

With a huge bag full of money like this? I doubt it. If the bank's name is clearly identified, there's an implied obligation to return the money. Especially this much of it.

If I drop a $100 bill on the ground and someone comes up behind me and takes it did he steal it from me?

Technically yes, but in that case it would be near impossible to prosecute.

 

[RJDiogenes]

I once saw ten of these on a lorry. Two days later, i read in the paper that two men dressed as repairmen stole ATM's in the entire city.

Well, that's certainly portable then.

As for the telephones, I may be thinking of the distant past. I walked over to the Bank of America across the street and the two ATMs I remember had been replaced by one big one that looked like a high-tech slot machine. No phone visible. Probably obsolete now that almost everyone carries a cell phone.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Irrelevant. The fine had nothing to do with the money.

I'll go farther and add that, had he kept some of the money, he would be facing far, far worse than a fine.

Would he? If the money is "lost" then wouldn't it be finders keepers? If I drop a $100 bill on the ground and someone comes up behind me and takes it did he steal it from me?

No, you have a duty to take reasonable steps to find the owner. Now what is reasonable varies by the amount. If it's a dollar, you can probably assume it's abandoned and that would be reasonable. With this amount, you can't. It's clearly unreasonable not to tell someone.