Casino Janitor Returns $10k Cash Left In Restroom
February 19, 2013 2:15 pmOver the years I have covered many a story about money being stolen from casinos or customers taking advantage of malfunctioning ATM machines, and the like. That’s why it came as such a pleasant surprise to recently read about an honest janitor who found $10,000 in cash in the restroom of the casino she worked before promptly handing in the whole amount to her manager.
An employee of the Thunder Valley Casino near Sacramento, California for 10 years, Meuy Saelee found the huge sum in a toilet cubicle at 2:30 a.m.on Friday, February 8th. She then proceeded to call her supervisor, who was subsequently able to track down the owner after first consulting the casino’s surveillance video.
It was then discovered that the money belonged to 46-year-old casino patron Linh Hoang, who was arrested last year for leaving her two young children at home while she gambled. Apparently, despite Meuy Saelee not hesitating to return the cash, the money’s nonchalant owner accepted the return of her $10,000 with a simple “Thank you” before being on her way. As Meuy Saelee explains: “[Hoang] said ‘thank you,’ that’s all. Then, I walked back.”
Nevertheless, the Thunder Valley Casino was not prepared to see their employee’s honesty go unnoticed and so the casino gave Meuy Saelee a $500 reward, of which she then promptly gave $50 to her manager in order to share in her reward.
Over the past few years, other inspiring stories of honesty includes a store employee who returned $3,300 left in donated shoes by an elderly couple. Last October, a Las Vegas cab driver received a $2,000 reward after finding $221,510 in the back of his taxi; and last November in Singapore a taxi driver returned $900,000 found in his cab and when asked if he was tempted to keep the money, relied:
“The money is unimportant to me. It doesn’t belong to me, so how can I use it?”