Nepali man among 2 honoured for honesty after handing wallet with $30,000 to owner

Kathmandu / Sept 22: Two train employees including a Nepali national have been awarded for returning a wallet containing around Aus $ 30,000 in cash to its rightful owner in Australia.

Naresh Awal from Nepal currently residing in Sydney and Fahd Elshorafa had noticed an unattended bag at North Strathfield station on March 8. The duo Sydney Trains employees wasted no time to use their detective skills to track down the owner to return the money, The Daily Telegraph reported.

They were awarded with Sydney Trains customer service awards and received the ‘beyond brilliant’ award for doing an honest deed and returning valuables to the rightful owner.

The duo was “anxious” when they counted the cash, which totalled an astounding $28,600.

“We were thinking the owner must be really distressed, so I was really trying to figure out how to get it back to him,” Awal, a permanent resident of Bhaktapur, said.

Fortunately, the duo found a Chinese passport belonging to a 34-year-old man and a receipt from an Auburn money exchange in the bag—which became a key clue to find out the owner.

Later, the rail workers called up the money exchange and asked that the passenger be alerted to his loss.

The man, who was unaware that he had lost his money, broke down when he arrived at the station.

The man kept repeating: “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” Awal said, adding “He tried to give us some money as a reward but we said, ”That’s not what we need — we really needed to find you and hand over your belongings,” ‘ the Daily Telegraph quoted him.

“I feel really satisfied. Still now I have that memory of his happy face, and that’s what we are here for,” Awal further said.

Elshorafa and Awal were commended for their ‘integrity’ and ‘honesty’ by Transport Minister Andrew Constance.

The man had exchanged the money to fund tuition costs in Australia.