A clean-out job turned into a $12,000 surprise for a Myrtle Beach restaurant owner, and then a search for the man it belonged to.
Sak Yiengjuntuek, who owns Lemongrass Vietnamese Pho & Thai Cuisine in South Carolina, told TODAY.com he was in “shock” after finding the cash in a sunglasses case inside an old cabinet and trying to return it to the store’s former proprietor.
“The money was very thick,” Yiengjuntuek tells TODAY.com.
He said he found the money earlier this month, after power was restored following a New Year’s Day fire at neighboring Wholesale Furniture Gallery.
Back on New Year’s Day, the furniture store caught fire, with the origin traced to an electrical room, causing several businesses, including Yiengjuntuek’s, to lose power for months.
Yiengjuntuek said he used the return of power as a chance to deal with furniture left behind by previous tenants.
“Two cabinets that belong to the previous owner,” he says. “Kind of junk. We have to put it in the back.”
While cleaning out one of the cabinets that had been sitting outside, he saw a sunglasses case and opened it.
“I saw the sunglasses case and then, you know, of course, when you see something like that, you want to open and look,” he says.
Inside was a stack of $100 bills filling the case.
“I was so shocked,” Yiengjuntuek says. “I knew right then that it belonged to the previous owner.”
He said he had trouble reaching the former owner because the phone number he had on file had been disconnected. But while on-air with WLBT3, he remembered he had another number for him.
Yiengjuntuek said the relief in the “oh my god” on the other end of the line was clear.
He said the timing mattered because the previous owner has been dealing with a serious and costly health battle.
Yiengjuntuek said people around Myrtle Beach have since recognised him and thanked him for what he did.
“The post office girl said, ‘Hey, that’s my boy, I saw you on the news, you did the right thing,’” he recalls. “I said, ‘Yeah, I will be proud of it.’ I like to be a good part of the community.”
He said he has been surprised by the attention, but hopes his actions encourage others.
“I just want to say: Do the right thing,” Yiengjuntuek says. “Don’t give up honesty.”
Read more from NBC News.
