$4500 cash in lost wallet goes back to honest Whangarei finder

The cash from the wallet handed in to police has now been given to the finder after fruitless searches for its owner. Photo / File

Honesty does pay, and for one good Whangarei Samaritan it was to the tune of nearly $4500 cash.

Staff in the property office at Whangarei Police Station exhausted all methods of trying to find the owner of a brown wallet stuffed with cash after it was handed in last July.

At the time the 80-year-old finder revealed he had made the stash-of-cash discovery at a public toilet in Whangarei. He willingly handed over the wallet at Whangarei Police Station, but didn't want his name recorded as the finder.

But fortunately he did. If he hadn't the cash would have gone into the Crown coffers.

Other property handed over to police, where people do not want to have their names recorded, can end up in auctions if the owner is not found and the item not claimed.

There was very little information in the wallet that gave away any clues to the owner. No credit cards, no receipts, no address.

In the hunt for the owner, property officers tried via a few local organisations but had no luck. They also tried through the Northland Police Facebook page and through free lost-and-found advertisements and an article in the Northern Advocate. But nothing.

Property officer Amanda Bartlett, who has done the job for 10 years, said it was the biggest amount of cash that had been handed to Whangarei police.

"The pinnacle for us is reuniting people with their property," she said.

Disappointed they were not able to do that in this case it was reassuring to know there were honest people in the community and one of those had been rewarded.

The finder was contacted and he arrived at the police station with his wife. When they were told how much cash was in the wallet the man's wife had to sit down she was in so much shock.

"They obviously knew there was a fair amount but were shocked to hear just how much," Mrs Bartlett said.

The property officers have been able to match up thousands of people with their stolen or lost items and sometimes they go to extraordinary lengths to do that.

In one case a camera was handed in to police. Scrolling through the photos, most of which were of a wedding, Mrs Bartlett noticed a bottle of wine with a congratulations note attached.

Looking at the note closely, she saw it had the logo of a South Island resort.

One phone call and some co-operation from the resort staff and Mrs Bartlett was able to get a name and contact details. Eventually the camera was returned to the English couple who had their wedding in New Zealand.

Over the holidays more keys, sunglasses and phones were handed in. Whangarei Police Station is open 24 hours so if you have lost something call in and check or call the Whangarei police property office on 09 430 4703.