Money for Nothing?

It seems like free money brings out the worst in people. Just last summer, you may recall, Cape Cod store clerk Julie Prive claimed to have won $4 million in the lottery and was sued by two separate customers of the store where she worked. Both customers claimed they paid for the winning ticket but didn't realize they'd won and Prive kept it and sent her husband to collect the winnings later. (And even though only one of the two customers could have been the winner, Prive paid money to both to settle the case.) In January, a convenience store clerk in Westborough, Ma., was arrested for snatching a $200,000 ticket from a customer's hand (he gave her $100 and told her to beat it). And just last week in New York, three co-workers sued a fourth after he allegedly kept the winning lottery ticket he purchased for their office pool.

So what will happen to our lucky treasure-hunters from Methuen? Despite what we all learned in grade school, the rule is not always "finders keepers, losers weepers." In Massachusetts, the owner of the property where mislaid goods are found can claim those goods all for himself, even if he didn't find them, so long as he notifies the town police of the found items within two days and the owner doesn't show up within a year. That means that Villcliff, the buddy who was helping dig up the tree, is out of luck if Crebase decides to keep the money for himself, but there's twelve months for all you con men and grifters to try to prove that you are the rightful owners of the loot. Good luck!