Christmas comes early for homeless man who pocketed $500,000 from Paris airport

The door of the Loomis cash management company was unlocked so the man helped himself. Photo / istock

French detectives are hunting a homeless man who made off with a "Christmas present" of €300,000 (NZ$504,261) after striking lucky while rummaging through bins at Paris' Roissy Charles de Gaulle airport.

Security camera footage shows the unidentified 50-year-old rifling through rubbish at terminal 2F of France's biggest air hub when he accidentally leans against a door leading to the cash depot of transport company Loomis.

Incredibly, the door was ajar after security personnel apparently failed to shut it properly.

In what Le Parisien called one of the biggest "bloopers" in the annals of crime, the man made off with the huge stash armed only with "luck and chutzpah".

"It is true that this was totally fortuitous," a source close to the inquiry told the French daily.

"This tramp benefited from a series of coincidences to hand himself a huge Christmas present."

His unlikely heist first came to the attention of border police when an alarm sounded at 5.30pm last Friday.

Rushing to the scene, officers found the money transport depot door open.

Viewing security camera footage to find out what had happened, they saw a "European" man aged around 50 rummaging through bins.

The man can then be seen leaning on the door of the cash depot and to his surprise it opens. The individual leaves his suitcase outside and enters.

A few minutes later, he is seen leaving with two large bags stuffed with cash.

He then quickens his pace and is last seen heading in the direction of a road not covered by CCTV.

Police recovered his suitcase, but it was empty.

Although they don't have his name, the man is known to security as one of up to 100 homeless people who move around the airport in search of scraps.

"He's a man who has been wandering the area for some time," said a source.

"For the moment, he hasn't come back," said the source.

Unless caught, his days of rummaging bins may well be over.