A candy maker rewarded a man who found the company’s lost check with candy. I’m Amy E. Feldman.
A man in Germany found a lost check for about 4.8 million dollars on the ground made out to candy maker Haribo, which had dropped it. Oops. He contacted Haribo, which sent him a reward—a box of candy. Uh, thank you? Obviously if you find a check that isn’t yours, you shouldn’t cash it. It’s stealing. In this case, though, Haribo said that since it was a crossed check, it couldn’t have been cashed anyway.
A crossed check is a banking protection used mostly abroad. It’s when someone writes two parallel lines across a check, so the check can only be deposited in the bank account of the person to whom it’s made. In the US, you’d write “For Deposit Only” and then sign your name to prevent someone from depositing it in their account. But note to Haribo: regardless of whether the check could be cashed, looking like you’re being stingy with a do gooder leaves a bitter taste in the mouth of the public.
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