Hidden assets: couple finds almost 400,000 D-mark with renovation!

Hidden assets: couple finds almost 400,000 D-mark with renovation!

On February 14, 2025, an unusual incident occurred in Herbstein, Vogelsberg, when a newly drawn couple met with a considerable amount of money during renovation work in their house. The couple discovered a total of 386,680 D-Marks, which were hidden in food packaging from 1996. What started as a surprising find quickly developed into a legal nightmare for the two. They planned to exchange the money into euros to cover the renovation costs and drove to Bielefeld.

in Bielefeld, however, it turned out that the lost property office could not accept the money and referred the couple to the police. The couple stated that they had found the money in a car park of an outdoor pool. But the public prosecutor intervened and started investigations into suspected money laundering and embezzlement. The court ultimately condemned the couple for embezzlement.

legal consequences for the couple

The punishments imposed on the couple were clear: the husband had to pay 9,100 euros, which corresponded to 130 daily rates at 70 euros, while the wife got away with a penalty of 1,350 euros (90 daily rates at 15 euros). Overall, the punishment amounts to 10,450 euros.

The court assessed a confession of the couple and the burden of the procedure as mitigating circumstances. When finding the judgment, the court also found that the money found had granted the bereaved of the deceased to the house. However, the judicial investigation into the origin of the money, which may be related to the spectacular Reemtsma gerry from 1996, could not be sufficiently proven.

Reemtsma gerry

Reemtsma gerry, a criminal event of "historical" dimension, took place in 1996 when Jan Philipp Reemtsma was kidnapped. The ransom for its release was 15 million D-Mark and 12.5 million Swiss francs, but the whereabouts of this ransom remained unclear for a long time. The suspicion that the banknotes now found could come from this kidnapping could not be confirmed, which did not make the situation easier for the couple.

For the legal experts, this case means an interesting topic, since the laws on the lost property regulation in Germany state that everything has to be brought to the lost property office over 10 euros. The couple acted in direct contradiction to this rule, which justified their conviction. It remains to be seen how the legal interpretations of such extraordinary finds will develop.

In addition, the European Court of Justice recently concretized the Reemtsma claim, which allows entrepreneurs to reclaim illegally charged sales tax. Although this is in a different legal context, this could also cause discussions in cases like this. The basics for the use of this claim were sharpened by recent judgments, but the relevance of such topics remains, especially in view of the complexity of financial and tax law.

For the couple in Herbstein, the incident is an educational, albeit costly experience, which from then on will be noted in the annals of the curious finds in the German legal area. The case emphasizes the need to be clear about the applicable laws and regulations, especially with regard to the legal handling of lost property.

For more information on the topic, the report of Tagesschau as well as the legal explanations on fgs and in the article on ZJS Online .