The Sendai District Court sentenced a 43-year-old man to six months in prison on Friday for keeping ¥22 million in cash that a security company dropped on the street, rejecting his claim that the money was a gift from God.
Takuya Suenaga walked slowly to the witness stand at 2 p.m. to hear the verdict, the court heard. On the day of the offense, he had learned that his cancer had returned and that he had two to three months to live.
On his way home from the hospital, he found a bag that a cash-transport company had lost. Inside was ¥22 million. "It was a gift from God," Suenaga said.
He spent ¥18 million of it on a trip to Ise, a visit to Vietnam and cancer treatment. He was arrested in July, past the life expectancy he had been given, and charged with embezzlement of lost property — keeping found goods that could be traced to an owner.
Prosecutors had sought one year in prison. The presiding judge noted that Suenaga has been repaying the money at ¥30,000 a month.
“It must be doubted whether paying ¥30,000 a month for more than 50 years is realistically possible to fulfill.”the presiding judge, Sendai District Court
The judge also addressed the timing of the find, which came right after the terminal diagnosis.
“Even if there were circumstances in which he became desperate after being told of his remaining life, there is a limit to how much that can be taken into consideration. Even after fully considering circumstances such as his lack of a criminal record, it is hard to say this is a case where a suspended sentence is appropriate, and a prison term cannot be avoided.”the presiding judge, Sendai District Court
Asked whether he understood, Suenaga nodded several times. Five days after his diagnosis, exactly eight months had passed.