Christmas Comes Early For Citizens Of Hong Kong As HK$15 Million Cash Spills On Road – Only $4.8 Mn Recovered


Christmas came in early for quite a few citizens of Hong Kong, when a money transport van spat out wads of cash onto a road. Though the Hong Kong police say they have recovered about HK$4.8 million out of the HK$15.23 million, the majority of the money is still missing.

A money transport van with a faulty rear door spilled large bundles of cash over a busy road in Hong Kong on Christmas Eve. Needless to say, a mini-blizzard of millions in cash paralyzed a road on Wednesday afternoon. Apparently, the security van had spilled bundles of crisp Hong Kong 500 dollar notes.

The money fluttered across an eight-lane section of Gloucester Road in the Wan Chai area after three plastic crates of the crisp, new notes fell from the back of the security van, reported The New York Times. Traffic came to a standstill as throngs of people jumped out of their cars or ran onto the road to pick up the swirls of money.

Needless to say, hoards of motorists and passers-by engaged in a mad scramble to treat themselves to an early Christmas right around lunch-time. Anyone aware of the spillage dashed onto Gloucester Road to pick up large stacks of banknotes. However, the treat was quite short-lived as policemen quickly surrounded the cash spill, staving off the people and thereby restored order, reported the South China Morning Post. Once the police reached the area, the citizens lost all access to the cash spill.

Interestingly, not all those who grabbed the money considered it theirs. “One old lady picked up cash and gave it to the police when they turned up,” confirmed a person on the scene.

The police estimated that about HK$15 million was missing, suggesting that not everyone who saw the windfall had passed the goodness test. District police officer Wan Siu-hong subsequently issued a directive to the people who took advantage of the cash spill, via Radio Television Hong Kong.

“Anyone who picked up the cash concerned should hand it over to the police as soon as possible. Otherwise, they may have committed the crime of theft.”

Since the notes were newly minted, they were probably packaged with the serial numbers in order. Police will be able to easily figure out which bills were not returned, making it difficult for those who picked up the flying cash to actually spend it.

Cash spills aren’t an uncommon phenomenon. However, considering this one happened on Christmas Eve, it might have given the wrong idea to onlookers who thought it was a gift of cash from Santa Claus.

[Image Credit | SCMP]

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