Refugee finds £41,000 hidden in wardrobe

A SYRIAN refugee has won praise in Germany for his “exemplary” behaviour after he handed €50,000 (£41,000) cash he found hidden in a wardrobe over to the authorities.

The 25-year-old, named locally as Muhannad M, found the money in a wardrobe he was given by a charity after being granted asylum in Germany.

Instead of pocketing the cash, he handed it to the authorities in Minden, near Hannover, the small town where he has been staying after fleeing from the Syrian city of Homs last year.

“For the police and the town he is the hero of the day,” a police statement said.

“This young man has behaved in an exemplary fashion and deserves major credit. It’s quite often the case that someone finds a smaller amount of cash and hands it in to the police. But for it to happen with such a large sum is absolutely exceptional.”

Muhannad found the money between two shelves as he was reassembling the wardrobe, which he was given by a charity to help furnish the flat where he is staying.

As well as €50,000 in cash, he found savings accounts books worth more than €100,000 (£82,000).

The cash was in €500 notes, the highest euro denomination, which the European Central Bank is planning to phase out over fears it is mainly used by organised crime.

Muhannad had never seen such high-value notes before and checked on the internet to see if the money was real.

He told Bild, a German newspaper, that if he had kept the money it would have enabled him to bring his two younger brothers to Germany.

“But Allah would never allow it, to finance your own interests with some one else’s property,” he said.

When he discovered the notes were real, he handed the money in at the town’s office for foreigners, where staff passed it on to the police.

Investigations are now under way to find the money’s rightful owner. Under German law, Muhannad is entitled to a finder’s reward of 3 per cent of the total sum, which would be €4,500 if the savings books are included.

Despite its advanced economy, Germany remains one of the most cash-dependent countries in the world. A majority of Germans still pay for most purchases in cash and it is not unusual for people to carry large sums.