Trial of terminally ill cancer patient who found 22 million yen on the street and kept it ends

A terminally ill cancer patient in Higashimatsushima, Miyagi Prefecture, found 22 million yen ($139,000) on the street and kept it, leading to a bizarre trial. The 43-year-old man had just been told his cancer had returned, giving him only months to live. Feeling defeated, he wandered aimlessly until he encountered a bag of cash dropped by security guards delivering money from a game center in Sendai.

The guards had dropped the bag but continued loading it into an armored car without noticing. The terminally ill man, curious about the sudden fortune, picked up the bag and took it to a public restroom to examine its contents. Over the next four and a half months, he spent 18 million yen ($114,000) on medical treatments and travel abroad, citing that the money was a "gift from God."

Law enforcement eventually caught up with him in July and arrested him for misappropriating lost property. At his one-day trial on October 19, he admitted to the charges. Prosecutors argued the man's actions were "utterly selfish" and sought a one-year prison sentence, while his defense requested a suspended sentence, citing his deteriorating mental state.

Sentencing is set for November 6, but opinions remain divided. Some argue his situation warranted his actions, while others maintain that he should have turned the money in, as it belonged to the guards. The firm that transported the money covered the 22 million yen with insurance, and the man has agreed to repay the funds through monthly payments of 30,000 yen ($190) until sometime around 2076.