Imagine finding $27,000 outside of an ATM at your local bank.
George Condash from Westland, Michigan, did the honorable thing and returned $27,000 that was left near an ATM by mistake. A security guard had accidentally left the box behind while unloading the cash from an armored truck.
Security footage from Westland Federal Credit Union shows the moment Condash came across the black box lying in the middle of the street next to the drive-thru ATM. The good Samaritan wanted to move the item out of the way of traffic, so he got out of his car and walked over to it.
He inspected the box and saw a tag that stated there was $40,000 inside. Immediately, Condash took the box into the credit union and handed it to the teller behind the counter.
“Well, first, I just thought it was trash. For some reason it hit me that, ‘Why don’t I just pick this up so no one else has to swerve around it?'” Condash told WDIV-TV.
“I picked it up and noticed a tag that said it was $40,000,” he said. “I said, ‘Is there a reward for $40,000?’ And I put it on their counter and they just looked dumbfounded.”
Upon further inspection, the box was not full and only contained $27,000, but that still would have been a substantial amount for the credit union to lose. That much money could have also changed Condash’s life had he decided to keep it. Instead, he showed that he has integrity and returned the money back to where it belonged.
The box, which actually only contained $27,000, had mistakenly been left in the roadway by an armored truck security guard.
“It’s not mine and any honest person, I would hope, would take it back in,” Condash said.
Alicia Stewart, the bank’s cash manager said if Condash had not turned in the cash, the bank would have called the police and tracked down his car license plate.
She added, “Not everybody is cognizant of the cameras around them.”
Condash has faith that there are other good Samaritans out there. Condash said the credit union did give him a reward for his honesty.
Watch the video below for more details: