$500 million left at holy site: Checks found at Western Wall

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Pilgrims to the Kotel, or Western Wall, in Jerusalem often tuck prayers written on slips of paper between the wall's giant stones.

One man praying at the wall got quite a surprise, the Jerusalem Post reported, when he discovered an envelope with more than 500 checks, totaling $500 million, leaning against the wall.

The man turned the envelope over to a lawyer, Jerusalem police said, who in turn handed them off to the police lost and found unit. Police spokesman Shmuel Ben Ruby said an investigation would determine if the checks were real.

The Western Wall Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovich told the Post many of the checks were Nigerian, prompting a cheeky theory: the notorious Nigerian Prince email scammer had found God and was paying his penance.

Rabinovich said the checks were signed, but not made out to anyone, which usually means they cannot be cashed.