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Honest senior rewarded for handing in €12,000

The Local Germany
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Honest senior rewarded for handing in €12,000
An 87-year-old pensioner found the cash in the bin. Photo: DPA

After throwing away €12,000 this week, a landlord in North Rhine-Westfalia thought he'd made one of the most expensive blunders of his life. But the money made it home safely, police said on Friday – and all thanks to an honest pensioner.

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Most of us know the feeling: scrabbling around for an important letter or receipt before realizing we must have thrown it in the bin. It can be devastating.

So it's hard to imagine how one Wuppertal landlord felt after he realised he'd accidentally thrown away €12,000 worth of takings with the household rubbish.

The landlord called police on Tuesday to report that something had "gone missing," reports Focus.

However, the money had already been spotted by one keen-eyed bottle collector.

Scanning the rubbish container for recyclable bottles he could exchange for cash, an 87-year-old pensioner came across the three envelopes stuffed with cash on Monday.

But instead of keeping the stash, the honest retiree chose to hand it in to police – who were "astonished" when they counted up the contents.

The landlord has now been reunited with his money, while the eagle-eyed pensioner is set to receive a statutory finder's reward.

However, the reward for his honesty could be bigger still: two anonymous donors have since come forward saying they wish to reward the truthful bottle-collector, police said.

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