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Bargain hunters become the hunted

An elderly man mistakenly donated a suitcase containing $100,000 to his local second hand shop, sparking a police hunt for the bargain hunters who bought it.

According to The Telegraph, the man who donated the bag apparently realised his mistake when his wife told him that she had been keeping their life savings in the old suitcase.

Staff at the Salvation Army shop in Beaconsfield said that the man had returned to the store to plead with them to find the case. However, it had been sold two days earlier.

Brad Halse, a spokesman for The Salvation Army, said the shop was trying to trace the buyer through recent credit card transactions.

But he said with the cash sewn into the lining, it was possible the buyer did not even know he or she had hit the jackpot.

“Any person could have bought the suitcase and be completely unaware that there’s anything in the lining,” Mr Halse said.

“They may not be planning to use the suitcase for six months, or they could be on a plane today.”

However, police investigating the case have since arrested a man and a woman for failing to return the cash.

Officers have also recovered most of the money, which had been put into several different bank accounts.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .