He took some property from a villa that was confiscated by the state; how should the wealth be returned?
Question

                A sister asked me to pass this message of hers on to you, so as to find out the Islamic view on it. This is the message: 

She says that her husband was in charge of a villa that was confiscated from the previous official, and it belongs to the state now. He took some vessels that were in the basement inside the villa. Now her husband has died – so what should she do? Should she break the vessels or give their price in charity, and how should their price be worked out? Please advise us, may Allaah reward you.
Praise be to Allah.Firstly: 
The husband 
    who is being asked about did wrong when he took these vessels, whether they 
    belonged to an individual or to the state. The wealth of the state belongs 
    to the Muslims as a whole, and transgression against it is transgression 
    against the public wealth, which is a serious matter and a major sin. He 
    should have repented to Allaah and given back what he took. We ask Allaah to 
    forgive him and pardon him. Ahmad (20098) narrated from Samurah ibn Jundub 
    that the Prophet  (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The 
    one who takes something is responsible until he returns it.” al-Arna’oot 
    said: It is hasan li ghayrihi (hasan because of corroborating evidence). 
Secondly: 
The wife 
    should return the vessels to where they were taken from, even if that will 
    cause her some embarrassment, because this will help her husband and will 
    rid her of the sin of keeping haraam property. It is not permissible for her 
    to break the vessels under any circumstances. If she cannot return them, or 
    she thinks it most likely that returning them will result in worse 
    consequences, then she should donate them to the general good of the 
    Muslims, or sell them and donate the price to the good of the Muslims, or 
    give it in charity. 
If it is 
    known that the confiscation of the villa and its contents was unlawful, then 
    the vessels should be returned to their owner (the previous official) if 
    possible. If it is not possible to reach him or his heirs, then they or 
    their price may be given in charity on his behalf. 
It says in
    al-Majmoo’ (9/428): al-Ghazaali said: If he has haraam wealth and he 
    wants to repent and absolve himself of responsibility, if there is a 
    specific owner, it must be given to him or his representative. If he is dead 
    then it must be given to his heir. If the owner is not known, and there is 
    no hope of finding out who he is, then it should be spent on the general 
    good of the Muslims, such as bridges, border posts, mosques, maintaining the 
    road to Makkah and other things that benefit the Muslims in general. 
    Otherwise it may be given in charity to the poor.  The qaadi should take 
    care of that that if he is honest. If he is not honest then it is not 
    permissible to give it to him. … If he gives it to the poor, it should not 
    be haraam for the poor, rather it should be halaal. He may give it in 
    charity to himself or his family if he is poor, because if his children are 
    poor then they may keep it, rather they are more entitled to receive his 
    charity. He may take as much of it as he needs because he is also poor. What 
    al-Ghazaali said here was also mentioned by others, and it is as they said. 
    Al-Ghazaali also narrated it from Mu’aawiyah ibn Abi Sufyaan and others of 
    the salaf: from Ahmad ibn Hanbal, al-Haarith al-Muhaasibi and others pious 
    people, because it is not permissible to destroy this wealth or throw it in 
    the sea, so the only option left is to spend it in the interests of the 
    Muslims. And Allaah, may He be glorified and exalted, knows best. 
Al-Ghazaali 
    said: If he acquires some wealth from the ruler, some people say that he 
    should give it back to the ruler, because he knows best about what he owns, 
    and he should not give it in charity. This view was favoured by al-Haarith 
    al-Muhaasibi. Others said that he should give it in charity if he knows that 
    the ruler will not give it back to its owner, because giving it back to the 
    ruler will increase the injustice. Al-Ghazaali said: The view I favour is 
    that if he knows that he will not return it to its owner, he should give it 
    in charity on behalf of the owner. 
I (Imam 
    al-Nawawi) say: The view I favour is that if he knows that the ruler will 
    dispose of it improperly, or he thinks that this will happen, then he must 
    spend it on the interests of the Muslims, such as bridges etc. If he is not 
    able to do that or if it is too difficult because of fear or other reasons, 
    then he may give it in charity to those who are most in need. The most in 
    need of the needy are poor Muslim soldiers. If he does not think that the 
    ruler will dispose of it improperly, then he may give it to him or to his 
    deputy, if he can do that without it resulting in harm, because the ruler 
    knows best about the public interests and is most able to deal with them. If 
    he is afraid that giving it to him may result in harm, then he may spend it 
    on the causes that we have mentioned, if he thinks that the ruler will 
    dispose of it improperly. 
Shaykh Ibn 
    ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: If a person steals some 
    property then he dies, it is not permissible for his heir. If he knows who 
    its owner is he should give it to him, otherwise he should give it in 
    charity on his behalf. End quote from Liqa’ al-Baab al-Maftooh 
    (1/304). 
He also 
    said: If you have stolen from a person or an organization, then you must get 
    in touch with the one from whom you stole and tell him: I have such and such 
    that belongs to you, then settle the matter between you. But a person may 
    think that this is too difficult for him and that he cannot, for example, go 
    to a person and say, I stole such and such from you, I took such and such 
    from you. In that case he can send the money (for example) via another 
    person, indirectly, such as giving it to a friend of that person and a 
    friend of his, and saying: This belongs to So and so, and tell him the story 
    and that he has now repented to Allaah, and he hopes that he will give it to 
    him. 
If he does 
    that, then Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):  
“And 
    whosoever fears Allaah and keeps his duty to Him, He will make a way for him 
    to get out (from every difficulty)”

    [al-Talaaq 65:2] 
“and 
    whosoever fears Allaah and keeps his duty to Him, He will make his matter 
    easy for him”

    [al-Talaaq 65:4]
If it so 
    happens that you stole from someone and now you do not know who he is or 
    where he is, this is easier than the first case, because you can give what 
    you stole in charity with the intention that it is on behalf of its owner, 
    and then you will have discharged your duty. End quote from Fataawa
    Islamiyyah (4/162). 
And Allaah 
    knows best.