VietNamNet Bridge - After picking up 5 taels of gold at the dumping ground, a worker in Ca Mau province lost her job and has had to face legal proceedings for over the past year.

The "lucky" woman Pham Tuyet Mai.

Over one year ago, Pham Tuyet Mai, 35, a worker of the Ca Mau waste treatment plant in the southernmost province of Ca Mau, picked up a red wallet with nearly 5 taels of gold inside while she was classifying rubbish.

Mai’s boss then asked Mai to hand over the gold, saying that the gold that she picked up at her workplace belonged to her employer – the waste treatment plant. Mai did not agree so the case was reported to the police.

Since then, the local police has kept the gold and sought the real owner. The announcement was issued in Ca Mau Newspaper dated August 15, 2014. According to the police, 30 days since the announcement was released, if nobody declares to be the owner, the gold will be confiscated.

On December 9, 2014, Mai filled her request to the Police Agency of Ca Mau Province to claim the gold because nobody came forward as the owner during 30 days since the police posted the announcement. Mai’s case was transferred to the Police Agency of Ca Mau City.

Ca Mau City Police answered Mai’s request, saying that after August 16, 2015, if the gold is not claimed by anybody, Mai has the right to start legal proceedings in the Ca Mau People's Court against the Cong Ly Trade-Construction Co., Ltd., the parent firm of the Ca Mau Waste Treatment Company, where Mai worked, which also wanted to have the gold.

However, Cong Ly Company withdrew from the case. The police then said that the case will be settled under Article 241 of the Civil Code.

Accordingly, Mai will receive 10 months of minimum wage and 50% of the assets, totaling VND65.4 million (over $3,000).

The police also said that the deadline for seeking the real owner of the gold is one year, not one month as it had previously announced. Thus, the deadline was August 15, 2015.

Suddenly, on September 1, when the deadline had passed, a woman in Ca Mau City claimed to be the owner of the gold. However, her evidence failed to prove that she is the owner of the gold.

Mai said she was so tired and only wanted the case to be settled as soon as possible.

She said because of the gold, she was fired from the waste treatment plant just several days after she picked up the gold. “After being fired, I was paid three months of salary. My family is now in big trouble because my husband cannot work,” Mai said.

Earlier, a waste collector in HCM City found 5 million yen in a loudspeaker. After one year she received the 5 million yen because the police could not find the owner of the money.

Thu Lan