The smell of money: Romanians who hid €40,000 in thrown-out old shoes recovers some money

Filthy lucre: Cash-filled shoes tossed in Romania

BUCHAREST, Romania — Romanian newspapers are reporting that a Romanian family who hid euro40,000 ($57,768) in a pair of old shoes, then threw them away by mistake, has recovered the bulk of its savings.

Newspapers Evenimentul Zilei and Gandul reported Wednesday that a man from the city of Alba Iulia hid the savings in the shoes without telling his wife. The papers say the wife cleaned house before Christmas and threw the shoes away.

The papers reported that the couple informed police, who discovered that a woman had found the shoes — and bought a euro22,000 cottage. The family recovered euro11,000 from the woman and euro19,000 from the people who sold the house. The woman who found the shoes will be investigated.