Elderly Chinese farmer hid life savings in wall ... then found the cash rotting after water leak
Man secreted cash at his home in Anshun in Guizhou province, newspaper reports
An elderly villager from southern China who left his savings hidden in a secret compartment in a wall at his home has discovered the cash mouldering and severely damaged, probably by leaking water, according to a newspaper report.
The man, 70, a farmer in Anshun in Guizhou province, put his savings of more than 70,000 yuan (HK$80,000) in a compartment he dug in a wall three years ago and hid the spot with furniture, the Guizhou Metropolis Daily reported. The cash was wrapped in newspapers and plastic bags and none of his family knew the money was there.
The man, who was not named, took his savings out last week and found the bundles of cash had either stuck together or decomposed, most likely because of leaking water, the report said.
He took the remains of his cash to a bank last week and eight staff helped him put broken pieces back together, but much of it was damaged, a bank official was quoted as saying.
It is not yet known how much of the money can be salvaged.
In a separate case reported by state media, an woman in her 70s living in a rural area of Shenyang in Liaoning province found her savings of about 18,000 yuan rotting under her roof where she had hidden the money from thieves.
It took two staff members from a local branch of the Agricultural Bank of China more than 10 days to salvage the woman’s decayed savings by soaking the stacks of bills in water and then separating the notes. The report said the woman got back 12,850 yuan.
