A money changer in Singapore who lost $30,000 in cash miraculously got it all back due to the honesty of a 22-year-old student.
On Dec. 29, a 73-year-old employee of Clifford Gems & Money Exchange owner Mohamed Rafeeq, 50, had left $30,000 in cash at a public handicapped restroom stall, reports the New Paper.
“He told me he went back to the toilet within 15 minutes, but the envelope of money was no longer there,” Rafeeq, who also happens to be secretary of the Money Changers Association in Singapore, told the New Paper. “I chided him for leaving the envelope around like that. Our training rules state that money must be kept safely, and we must be very careful.”
Along with his employee, a panicked Rafeeq immediately went to file a police report at the Queenstown Neighbourhood Police Centre.
Only two hours later, Rafeeq received a call from an investigator at the Toa Payoh police center that an envelope containing $1,000 notes had been handed in to the police by Tony Wang, a marine in his last year of duty and an offshore engineering student at Ngee Ann Polytechnic.
“When I saw the wad of $1,000 notes, I freaked out,” Wang, who left China to study in Singapore in 2005, told the New Paper. “I have never seen so much money. My heart beat very fast while I carried the money with me. It’s a huge responsibility.”
Thankful, Rafeeq invited Wang to come into his Raffles City shop the day after. It was there that the student, who lives with his parents in a four-room apartment in Toa Payoh, was appreciatively presented with $500 as a reward.
“To be honest, $500 is a lot of money to me,” Wang told the New Paper. “Even though he’s really appreciative, I felt he didn’t have to give me so much money. I don’t need that money. I just wanted the money to find its way back to its owner safe and sound.”
According to Rafeeq, Wang did not want to accept his token of gratitude, which Wang has kept untouched in his drawer to this day.
“I had to force him to take the money,” he told the New Paper. “I told him the money is something from my heart and I asked him to spend it on his education needs. He came back within 10 minutes and tried to return the money to me again. He is a really kind and sincere boy. I really appreciate what he has done.”
