Man finds lost pouch containing large sum of money, returns it to the owners

A 37-year-old man from Sofia found pouch with 140 000 BGN inside and returned the money to the owners. The large sum belonged to an elderly couple and was their life’s savings. They had saved the money to buy a home for their grandchildren.

On a rainy Saturday day, Vladimir Simeonov stopped in a parking lot in front of a construction site in Boyana residential district. On the ground, he found a pouch that he initially thought belonged to one of the workers.

I couldn't believe what was inside. I saw the money. I don't know how much it was. My first thought was that I should find the owners. Regardless of where they are right now and how worried they are, Vladimir says.

The pouch turned out to be full of euros - 70,000 in total. Vladimir says he immediately went home, but didn't even tell his family. The man was determined that he would find the owners. He also posted a status on a Facebook group.

BNT: Didn't you give in to the temptation to keep the money? It's a lot of money.

Vladimir Simeonov: No. It didn't even cross my mind. This money comes to me not because I earned it, not because I did something for it. It's not money I have to keep.

Shortly after that, he put the money away in a safe place. Vladimir decided to return to the parking lot anyway. There he spotted an elderly couple. When he asked the seniors what they were doing there - the woman replied that they had lost their entire lives. The lost 70,000 euros turned out to be all the savings they had collected for years for an apartment for the grandchildren.

Not for a moment did Vladimir doubt that these were the people he was looking for.

Four names were engraved, carved into the pouch itself. They were the four names of their grandchildren.The man quoted the names to me without me even telling him to describe the object. The gesture the man made the moment I handed him the pouch was this: he pulled out one of the bundles without looking at how much it was. He gave the banknotes to me.

Vladimir didn't accept the money. By his example, the young man wanted to show his 7-year-old daughter that moralilty and a good heart are more valuable than money.

The moment I shared what I had done, my daughter's first words were - ”Daddy, you did good without me being involved.” Money is not everything. That's what I want people to understand. Nowadays, people have become very attached to money. Money, money, money ... but not everything is money, Vladimir says.

I have one explanation why this thing happened. Because these people have been good in their lives. They've done good things, and it's something that comes back to them at such a difficult time. That's the message I want to tell people. Do good without expecting anything. It will come back to you in unexpected ways, Vladimir says.