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Homeowner to get back cash found in basement by handyman
Monday, March 24, 2008
By Steven Cook (Contact)

SCHENECTADY — A large portion of the smelly cash found more than three years ago in a Stockade basement will be returned to the homeowner, attorneys said today.
Homeowner Michael Casadei was awarded nearly $130,000 in cash currently held by Schenectady County. In awarding the cash, state Supreme Court Judge Vincent J. Reilly Jr. turned back a claim by handyman Kevin Skoog that the cash was lost or abandoned property when he found it while working for Casadei in the basement of Casadei's home at 241 Union St.
Casadei attorney Adam Parisi praised the decision Monday, while Paul Callahan, Skoog's attorney, said he believes the judge failed to consider his opposing motion.
Reilly noted Casadei's testimony that he placed the cash there and that Skoog did not have permission to remove it.
“Under the circumstances, the cash cannot be considered lost or abandoned property which may be subject to the rights of the finders,” Reilly wrote.
An Aug. 4 trial date remains relating to a smaller portion of the cash that Skoog either spent or was lost. It is believed $177,700 was taken from the basement, but the judge’s ruling paves the way for the $129,200 seized by Schenectady County to be turned over to Casadei, Parisi said.
Casadei has steadfastly asserted that the money is his and that he put it in the wall. Casadei filed suit, and the proceedings have expanded to include anyone to whom Skoog allegedly gave the cash, along with Schenectady County, which seized the money as part of its criminal investigation, which has long since ended.
The case even saw estates and relatives of previous owners of the Union Street property claim the money as theirs, suggesting it might have been there for years. But a photo of the cash - with post-1996 bills prominently displayed - discounted those claims and proved that it was not antique cash.
Skoog was working as a contractor for Casadei when he found the money tucked away inside a basement wall and took it. Casadei eventually contacted the Schenectady County Sheriff’s Department and filed charges against Skoog, but the charges were never pursued.
The money figured into the downfall of a sheriff’s department inspector, who admitted to taking $133 from an evidence safe. The bulk of that money had already been deposited in a bank, however.