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‘It’s not mine’: Michigan man turns in $27,000 left near ATM by mistake

Click to play video: 'Michigan man finds $27,000 next to ATM; decides to return the money'
Michigan man finds $27,000 next to ATM; decides to return the money
WATCH: A Michigan man didn't think twice when he found $27,000 next to his credit union's ATM. – Jan 23, 2020

You can’t put a price on some people’s integrity — not even when a big box full of cash is involved.

Westland, Mich. resident George Condash is being hailed as an honest and all-around good guy after he turned in $27,000 worth of cash that he found next to a credit union ATM.

Surveillance footage captured outside the Westland Federal Credit Union shows the moment when Condash discovered the cash in a box near the drive-thru ATM on Jan. 21. Condash can be seen getting out of his vehicle, picking up the black box, inspecting it, then walking toward the door of the credit union.

“I picked it up and notice a tag stating that there was $40K [inside],” Condash told local station WDIV. He says he didn’t hesitate to turn in the cash, even after seeing that number.
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“It’s not mine, and any honest person, I would hope, would take it back in,” he said.

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Condash marched into the credit union and brought the box of cash right up to the clerks’ counter.

“I said, ‘Is there a reward for $40,000,’ and I put it on their counter and they just looked dumbfounded,” Condash said.

George Condash is shown holding a box filled with $27,000 in cash outside the Westland Federal Credit Union in Westland, Mich., on Jan. 21, 2020. Westland Federal Credit Union via WDIV

He later learned that the container wasn’t full, and that it only contained about $27,000. However, that still would have been a major loss for the credit union if Condash had tried to keep the cash.

“It could have ended in a very different way for us,” said bank manager Alicia Stewart. “But Mr. Condash was very honest and a good person to return the money, so we appreciate that very much.”

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The cash had been left behind by a security guard in an armoured truck, WDIV reports. The station obtained footage of the guard unloading several boxes of cash, including the one that he forgot.

Stewart gave Condash a small, undisclosed reward for his honesty.

However, Condash says the true reward is a clean conscience.

“Twenty-seven thousand? Yeah, that’d be great,” he said. “But really, what’s it gonna get you? Then you’d probably feel guilty the rest of your life with it.”

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