Judge Rules Money Found in Safe Belongs to State

In November 2008, firefighters discovered a safe in a vacant lot in Essex County. When news became public that the safe contained $178, 496 in cash, several people filed claims for the money.

Three years after the safe’s discovery, Judge Robert Cornnetta, a Essex County Superior Court judge, found the safe belonged to Daher Shoe (a shoe store) and Sally Daher (the deceased owner of the shoe store). Prior to her death ten years ago, Sally Duher spent five years in a skilled nursing facility. Judge Cornnetta held that the money belonged to the state’s Division of Medical Assistance to cover the medical expenses for the five years Duher lived in the facility.

When asked about Judge Cornetta’s decision, one of Sally Daher’s children, Ken Daher, stated, “I am ecstatic. This is the best Christmas present I could get. My mother wouldn’t have wanted money owed or a hand out in a million years…My mother did not live like that.”

See Jim Harmacinski, Judge: State Gets $178K Found in Safe, Eagle-Tribune, Dec. 26, 2011.

Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse (Professional Legal Marketing (PLM, Inc.)) for bringing this article to my attention.