Nonprofit Newswire | What Gives?

April 7. 2010; Sky News | Every once in a while we come across a story involving a charity that leave us scratching our heads. One such story has been making headlines all across Australia. It goes something like this: A couple buys a second-hand suitcase from a Salvation Army thrift store in Melbourne. Later they discover that there’s about $90,000 Australian ($92,000 U.S.) in cash sewn into the lining. Meanwhile the man who owned the suitcase discovers that his wife donated it to the Salvation Army, clueless about what’s inside. So he rushes to the store to try to get it back, but by then he’s too late. Police are asked to investigate and they track down the suitcase’s new owners who paid for it with a debit card. Before then, the new owners of the suitcase had already discovered the money and put it into several newly opened bank accounts. The story, however, doesn’t stop there. Instead of enjoying their seemingly good fortune, and everyone having some jolly laughs, the couple is charged with what Sky News Online says is “theft by finding.” In the end, this is what can only be called a case of “finders weepers.”—Bruce Trachtenberg