An 80-Year-Old Grandmother Who Picked Up Tens of Millions of Won on the Street... Money Recovered Within 40 Minutes

An elderly woman in her 80s who picked up 20 million won dropped on the street was quickly located by CCTV control center staff, and the money was recovered within 40 minutes. Photo is unrelated to the article.

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] The story of an elderly man in his 80s losing tens of millions of won on the street and finding the whereabouts of the money within 40 minutes thanks to the efforts of the closed-circuit television (CCTV) control center has become a hot topic.

According to Goyang Police Station in Gyeonggi Province on the 4th, a 112 report was received around 1 p.m. on the 24th of last month from Goyang-dong, Deogyang-gu, stating, "I dropped an envelope containing 20 million won on the ground, but when I went back, only an empty envelope remained."

The owner of the money was an elderly man in his 80s, who reportedly had urgently withdrawn the check for immediate use.

After receiving the report, the police applied for a stop payment on the check at the bank and requested cooperation from the Goyang City CCTV Integrated Control Center.

Monitoring the surrounding CCTVs at the control center, they confirmed a woman taking the check out of the envelope that had fallen on the ground.

The control center shared information about the suspect’s appearance and real-time movement route with the police, and the person who took the money was identified as an 80-year-old woman, Ms. A. She was arrested by the police about 40 minutes after the report and was booked without detention on charges of embezzlement of lost property. Fortunately, the check was immediately recovered and returned to the owner.

Goyang Police Station in Gyeonggi announced on the 4th that it awarded a commendation to a CCTV control center operator who contributed to the arrest of a suspect in cooperation with the police.
The photo shows Goyang Police Chief Kang Il-won (center) posing for a commemorative photo after presenting the commendation at the Goyang City CCTV Integrated Control Center, along with control operators Hong Il-seon (left) and Lee Bong-seon. Photo by Yonhap News Agency and Goyang Police Station.

Kang Ilwon, chief of Goyang Police Station, visited the Goyang City CCTV Integrated Control Center that morning and awarded certificates of commendation to control center operators Hong Ilseon and Lee Bongseon for their prompt arrest and assistance in recovering the stolen money.

At the award ceremony, Chief Kang said, "I express my deep gratitude to the control center operators who greatly contributed to the arrest of the suspect at the scene," and added, "We will continue to work closely with the control center to create a city where citizens can live safely from various incidents and accidents."