Let’s play a little game, shall we?

You’re walking down the street one day when you stumble across a watch on the ground. On closer inspection, you realise it’s a rather swanky gold Rolex, and it looks genuine. You look around for the owner, but no-one is in sight, and there are no residences or open stores nearby.

What do you do?

Pocket the watch to sell later or make your own, or hand it in at your nearest police station? Be honest now…

How about if, instead of finding a watch on the street, you discovered a small stack of cash, sitting unattended beside an ATM? And it’s no paltry sum either- about US$2,000. Would you take it or leave it behind?

A middle school vice principle in Kōchi prefecture, Shikoku, decided on the former…

On 15 September, the Tosa vice principle was arrested on suspicion of having taken 150,000 yen (US$1,900) that had been withdrawn but forgotten by a 45-year-old woman just moments before.

Vice Principal Eiji Tanaka, 49, was recorded picking up the forgotten cash by security cameras installed in the ATM vestibule.

Upon his arrest, Mr Tanaka is reported to have denied any wrongdoing, asserting that he fully intended to hand the money in to the authorities and had not taken to the money with the intention of using it.

Under most circumstances we’d be inclined to scoff at such a futile excuse for an alibi, but the fact that Mr Tanaka’s arrest by police came just hours after the removal of the money from beside the ATM could well suggest that his intentions were pure, and that perhaps the police were a little too efficient on this occasion?

Lesson learned, Rocketeers- if you find forgotten money at an ATM, either leave it well alone or call the authorities on the spot. That, or be sure to wear a fake moustache and a hat every time you visit the bank…

Source: Yahoo! Japan News via Yomiuri Online Images edited by RocketNews24

▼Tosa city, Shikoku