Auckland man Nigel Edwards finds $10k cash in a bag and returns to owners

Auckland man Nigel Edwards found $10k in a bag on the road. Photo/Facebook

What would you do if you found $10,000 in a bag on the side of the road?

It's a hypothetical question for most, but Auckland man Nigel Edwards found himself facing a serious moral dilemma this week when he found himself in just such a situation.

The 58-year-old had a tough decision to make, but has earned himself some Christmas karma by returning the money to its owner.

The karma will certainly be stacking up - Edwards had also found a wallet the same day and returned it to its owner as well.

He was driving with his daughter on Ranfurly Road, Epsom on Monday when he spotted the tote bag on the street, stopped, and picked it up. When he opened it he saw about $100 in notes and a passport, but decided to worry about it when he got home.

While he was still out, Edwards then found a wallet as well.

"I'm going 'you've got to be kidding here'," he said.

He tracked down the wallet's owner and returned it, and after getting home decided to do the same with the bag he'd found.

But after a proper look through the bag, Edwards discovered a departure card, personal items, and an itinerary - showing the flight the bag's owner should have been on left half and hour before Edwards went through the bag.

He continued looking through the bag, thinking he might find an address, but upon opening a folder, he was shocked to find more than $10,000 cash in various currencies.

There was US, NZ, and European money in the folder.

"And then I had to think," he said. "I actually thought about it for a little while. I thought 'nah, you've got to do the right thing.'"

He googled the person's name and found a company they were connected to. He called the company and managed to get hold of the bag's owner.

"[I said] 'look, I found your bag', and all it was was hysterical crying," he said.

The woman who owned the bag came to pick it up from Edwards. He said she had been planning to fly to Europe to see her daughter for Christmas.

She told Edwards they had reported the lost bag to police and were told to treat it as gone.

"I was so upset because if I opened it up earlier I might have caught them in time to get their flight out," he said.

The woman's husband gave Edwards a bottle of wine as a thank you and a bit of money.

Edwards said he did not regret handing the money over.

"If I had kept it, even though no one else would have known, I would have known. That would have bugged me for the rest of my life."

A police spokeswoman confirmed police had received a report of the bag and money being lost.

The loss was reported to police on Saturday.