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Attorney To File So Man Can Keep $150K Found In Garden

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Photo Of $20 And $10 Bills. (AP Photo)

Photo Of $20 And $10 Bills. (AP Photo)

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WOODSTOCK, Ill. (CBS) — The attorney for a McHenry County man goes to court Tuesday to file documents so that his client will be able to — he hopes — keep the $150,000 he found in his vegetable garden two weeks ago.

As WBBM Newsradio’s Steve Miller reports, a decision will not come for a whole year.

LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio’s Steve Miller reports


Attorney Robert Burke is going to court on behalf of Wayne Sabaj, who found the estimated $150,000 in cash in bags on the ground, nestled between the vegetables in his garden in unincorporated Johnsburg.

“I am entering an order, stating the approximate amount of the money recovered, and I’ll then take that order to the county clerk. They’ll file it,” Burke said.

The order will then be published.

“Assuming nobody claims the money, there will be another order entered directing the clerk to release the money to him,” Burke said.

When Sabaj found the cash in two bags while working on his garden, he turned it over to police right away. McHenry County sheriff’s officials said the money might have been dropped after a residential or commercial burglary.

Investigators have not found a link between the money and any specific burglaries.

Meanwhile, Sabaj will have to wait a year to get the money.

“That’s the only drawback. He’s going to have to wait a year,” Burke said. “I think he’ll be around a year from now. He’s a fairly young man,” at only 49.

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  • agentandy

    He’s luckythat he even has a chance to keep it. It could have been from a bank rubbery, but police have not figured out from which. Doesn’t sound like a residential robbery. Who has that much cash lying around?

    • Roberta Waker

      No one ever said how long the money may have been buried in his garden. If he gets to keep it, he will have to pay taxes on it. I agree that he would be lucky if he can keep it – reporting it might have been a big mistake.

  • rick

    Whoever it belongs to I’m sure they will be back for it, eventually!

    This sounds more like a nightmare than a miracle to me……

    • OLD VE

      AMEN RICK; I AGREE WITH YOU !! WHO EVER EVEN JUST THINKS THATS THEIR MONEY MIGHT COME TO GET IT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT WITH GUNS IN THEIR HANDS !!! I WOULD ‘NT LET ANYBODY KNOW I GOT THE MONEY BACK !!

  • Joe Patroni

    While cleaning out a ditch near Randhurst Mall working for the Pubic Works Department, I found $20.00. I bought lunch for everybody. We got to keep the money. I didn’t pay taxes on it either. Forgot to report it as income.

  • Roberta Waker

    How dumb to even report this money. Now it will cost him to keep it and if someone claims it, he will be out court costs and attorney fees, PLUS he’ll have to pay taxes on it. Is it really worth being an honest, law biding citizen?

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