The owner of a Myrtle Beach Thai restaurant returned $12,000 that he found hidden inside a cabinet after tracking down the former owner.
Sak Yiengjuntuek, owner of Lemongrass Thai Restaurant in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, said he discovered the cash while cleaning the restaurant after months of disruption caused by a fire at Wholesale Furniture next door.
"It was a shock to me that I found old money in the cabinet in the back of my restaurant," Yiengjuntuek said during a televised interview with WMBF. "The cabinet was owned by the previous owner."
Yiengjuntuek said the total amount found inside the cabinet was $12,000.
"That's a lot of money. I mean, I thought it was just sunglasses in there; I was shocked," he said. "The first thing I thought was that I need to find the rightful owner."
According to Yiengjuntuek, the restaurant had been closed for several months after a fire at the Wholesale Furniture Gallery next door disrupted the restaurant's electrical service.
After finding the money, Yiengjuntuek said he attempted to contact the former owner. The previous owner’s phone number no longer worked, but he later remembered he may have saved another contact number and tried again.
The call connected, and the former owner answered. Yiengjuntuek said returning the money was an easy decision. He said he was always taught to do the right thing.
"I feel like this was the right thing to do. You know, it doesn't belong to you; you need to return it to someone else to whom it belongs," he said. "Honesty, integrity, is very important in life."
The former owner told Yiengjuntuek he had been dealing with some serious health issues and that receiving the money could not have come at a better time, according to Yiengjuntuek's account.
“Although he initially withdrew $4 million, his conscience got the better of him shortly afterwards, and he returned the $88 million in full,” states the record.