Canada

Finders keepers pays off for Vancouver cop

A Vancouver police officer is $1 million richer. Const. Mel Millas found a backpack stuffed with money in a garbage can last April. A British Columbia judge ruled Monday he gets to keep it.

But Millas has no plans to quit his day job or go on any shopping sprees just yet.

He was warned that the legitimate owner could still come forward, so he should hold off spending the cash for as long as six years.

Millas says that's OK with him -- he can wait. "I have no specific plans to spend any of it right now, but after six years I might be looking at that a little differently."

His lawyer says he's looking into how long Millas should wait before he can start using the money. In the meantime, the million will be transferred from a police storage locker to Millas's bank account.

Millas says he was walking his dog Gus when he found the money. Gus started barking and sniffing around a garbage can in a park on Vancouver's east side. He looked inside and found the cash.

There was widespread speculation it was drug money. But a police investigation failed to find any link between the money and any crime.

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