A Restaurant Owner Found $12,000 Hidden in an Old Cabinet — and Tracked Down Its Rightful Owner Live on TV

When Sak Yiengjuntuek took over an old space to open his restaurant, Lemongrass Pho & Thai Cuisine in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, he inherited more than the building. Sorting through an old tool chest left behind by the previous owner, he opened a sunglasses case and found something he never expected: $12,000 in cash.

For many people, an unmarked pile of money in an abandoned cabinet might feel like a windfall. For Yiengjuntuek, it felt like an obligation. “I was so shocked,” he recalled, adding that “I knew right then that it belonged to the previous owner.” Rather than pocket the money, he set out to return every dollar of it to the man who had left it behind.

“Sorting through an old tool chest left behind by the previous owner, he opened a sunglasses case and found something he never expected: $12,000 in cash.”

The search hit a snag when the phone number he had for the former owner turned out to be disconnected. Undeterred, Yiengjuntuek took his story to the local NBC affiliate, WMBF, hoping the publicity might help him make contact. In a remarkable moment, while he was on the air, he suddenly remembered an alternate number for the previous owner — and called him live during the broadcast, greeting him with the words, “I have some good news for you.”

The return was especially meaningful because the former owner was reportedly facing significant health challenges, making the recovered savings all the more important. Yiengjuntuek framed the whole episode as a lesson he hoped others would take to heart: “Do the right thing. Don’t give up honesty.” In a beach town built on hospitality, one new business owner reminded his community that integrity is its own kind of welcome.