Beachgoers in Sicily , Italy, pulled bags of cash from the water Tuesday after the money was allegedly thrown overboard from a stalled speedboat that had traveled from Malta, Italian authorities said.
Investigators put the total at about 700,000 euros ($800,000). They said the people aboard threw several sealed packets of banknotes into the sea before rescuers reached them.
The bags floated rather than sinking, and the current pushed them toward the shore at Casuzze, a beach village in Santa Croce Camerina, in the province of Ragusa.
Swimmers went into the water after the floating money, and the scene turned disorderly for several minutes, authorities said. Video from the beach, published by Italian news outlets, showed a crowd gathered around a bag of banknotes on the sand.
Police in Sicily recover bags of cash taken by beachgoers
The Coast Guard, the Guardia di Finanza, the State Police and the Carabinieri closed off the area. Police in Sicily said nearly all of the cash was recovered, including notes that beachgoers had already taken from the bags.
The boat is roughly 18 feet long, MaltaToday reported. Three men and a boy about 13 years old were aboard. The boat lost power, apparently after running out of fuel, and drifted to within a few yards of shore, according to the Italian news site LiveUniCT. The occupants called for help themselves.
About $800,000 in cash came ashore in Sicily when bags were thrown from a broken-down speedboat. Beachgoers reached the money before police arrived. pic.twitter.com/0M6PxUpu02
— Tom Marvolo Riddle (@tom_riddle2025) August 1, 2026
Officers found one person still on the boat and said he was seen throwing sealed bags into the sea. The three others had gone ashore to look for help, witnesses told investigators.
All four were identified and taken to a Coast Guard beach station for questioning. The boat was towed to port and seized for technical and forensic tests.
Engine failure led officers to the boat, Ragusa commissioner says
Salvatore Fazzino, the Ragusa police commissioner, said officers found the boat only because it had broken down. Had the crossing gone as planned, he said, it would have passed without being stopped. Fazzino also said he believed the Coast Guard had recovered the full amount.
Detectives from the Squadra Mobile are working with the other agencies to determine where the money came from and why it was moving along the route between Malta and Sicily. No possibility has been dismissed, officials said. They are examining money laundering, counterfeit notes, currency smuggling and payment for a drug shipment.
Fazzino said the first steps are to establish who the four people are, where the money originated and how to trace the boat’s movements. The man steering the boat is Maltese, investigators said. The other three have not been named.
All four have been released and are on police bail. No charges have been announced. Franco Debono and Matthew Xuereb are representing them, along with Italian lawyers, MaltaToday reported.
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