Stack of cash found in taxi - now police are looking for the rightful owner

Police are looking for the rightful owner of a significant amount of cash after an honest taxi driver handed over the money when they found it in the back seat during a routine clean.

The driver handed the money in at Melbourne's Moorabbin police station and they're now keen to find the forgetful passenger.

"We've had a couple of calls in from people thinking that it may be their grandfather's or someone from as far away as Ballarat," Sergeant Michael Gridley told A Current Affair.

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"But at this stage, it's all been speculation on their behalf and nothing to really lock us into believing that it is your money."

Police won't reveal the dollar amount because they say whoever owns the cash must prove it's theirs.

"We'd also like to know how it was packaged, to help us identify that it's definitely yours because there is no identification with it," Gridley said.

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Police want to know whether there is proof of bank transfers or withdrawals from an ATM, whether the passenger took a taxi ride with the same taxi company, or whether the passenger took the same cab the money was found in.

Cabbie Shaun Priftis, who is not the same taxi driver who handed the money into police, said he's been in the business for a decade and found a number of interesting items in his car.

"Mobile phones is the main one," Priftis said.

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"Sometimes you get little bits of jewellery."

According to 13Cabs, the most unusual items left behind include a prosthetic leg, a $20,000 Cartier necklace and even a brand new 50-inch TV.

Most eventually get donated to charity, but items still awaiting collection include phones, shoes and a Mother's Day card.

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Police say if the rightful owner doesn't come forward within three months, the money will be returned to the person who found it.

It goes to show that honesty is the best policy.

"I'd like to think that most members of the community would do this if they came across this amount of money," Gridley said.