If you make this mistake at the ATM you risk prison

There are quite a few people who go to the ATM to withdraw money and then forget to take the cash, leaving the money they just requested.
It might seem strange, but episodes of this type are commonplace, both in Italy and abroad.
Thanks to the daily frenzy and stress, the forgotten sums sometimes include large sums.
The Italian news reporting these facts also contains some curious or particular events.
For example, in 2022 a citizen of Oria went to the Carabinieri to deliver the sum of money forgotten at the ATM by the customer before him but who quickly left.
Since these were closed days, the account holder and the Carabinieri did their utmost to spread the news and return the sum.
In the same year, a completely different episode in Cerreto d'Esi, with 600 euros left at the ATM and pocketed by the next customer.
The latter was filmed by cameras and identified 7 months later by the Carabinieri who were in charge of the investigation, having recognized him at a checkpoint.
Errors of this type can cost those who commit them very dearly, regardless of possible – and in some cases unlikely – good faith.
On the other hand, the Italian legislation on the discovery of movable assets, including money, may not be very intuitive.
There are many offenses and crimes that concern the case, with different punishments.
So let's see what the law provides and when you risk prison.
The mistake not to make at the ATM, when you risk prison According to the law, anyone who finds objects, regardless of their type and value, is required to return them to the owner or, if it is impossible to trace them, to the lost property office of the municipality where they were found.
This is not a mere civic duty, but a real obligation prescribed by law, with consequent sanctions for those who do not comply with them.
Until 2016, the Penal Code even provided for a specific crime for this type of crime, in particular theft and receiving lost property, found by mistake or fortuitous event, identified by Article 647 of the Penal Code.
The latter punished the conduct of those who take possession of lost property with imprisonment of up to 1 year or a fine of 30 to 309 euros.
If the perpetrator knew the legitimate owner of the property he had appropriated, the penalty went up to 2 years in prison (always following a complaint from the offended person).
This crime, however, was decriminalized in 2016.
To date, taking possession of things lost by others or in any case failing to report them is no longer a crime.
The conduct described still remains a civil offense, punished with a fine of between 100 and 8,000 euros, applied by the judge following the civil lawsuit for compensation brought by the offended person.
In addition to the fine, in fact, compensation may be due for the damage caused, but no criminal implications.
There is no doubt about the fact that failure to report goods found by mistake or fortuitous event is no longer a crime, the problem underestimated by most is that this case can hardly be extended to the finding of money at an ATM.
It is the undisputed opinion of jurists that in these hypotheses we cannot speak of discovery, which could only be recalled if the money was left there.
Taking possession of it is not a discovery because it is possible, with ease, to trace the owner.
Furthermore, keeping money forgotten by others at the ATM does not constitute the crime of embezzlement, as many believe, but rather the crime of theft.
The latter is punishable (upon complaint by the offended person, if minor or infirm even ex officio) with a fine from 154 to 516 euros and imprisonment from 6 months to 3 years.
read also How much reward is due to anyone who finds money or a wallet