A cleaner who found £50,000 stuffed in a sanitary bin was left speechless at the reward after handing in the wad of cash.
Chamindu Amarsinghe was cleaning a ground flood bathroom at a TV company's building in Melbourne, Australia, when he found the hidden notes.
Despite being a "struggling" student, Chamindu immediately called his bosses to tell them about the find before police were called and the money was handed over.
He told the Herald Sun: "There was too much to count — I thought someone was playing a prank on me.
“But when I touched the notes — all yellow and green — I realised it was real money.”
Police and a plumber went on to pull out £935 from the pipes around the toilet.
Explaining his honestly Chamindu said his first thought was to inform the authorities.
He added: "I just thought, 'That's not my money, so I can't take it away. I don't know what the hell this money is doing here’.
"Someone could have put it there and planned to come back for it. I didn't want them to come back for it and find it gone and them come after me."
Police immediately began investigating how the haul had ended up there and while nobody came forward, they were able to connect the cash to Sydney man Emerald Nguyen, reports The Sun.
He was charged over the proceeds of crime in connection with the mystery cash haul but the charges were later dropped.
Nguyen also signed a notice of abandonment, declaring he had no part to play in the cash haul.
After three years of waiting for the cash to be claimed, Chamindu was told by magistrate Michael Smith that he would be able to keep £40,000 - with the rest going to the state.
Smith said: “There’s no reason why such honesty should go unrewarded.”
The lucky cleaner called the money a “blessing”, adding: "I just want to spend my life in a normal way, find a job in IT and carry out that dream."
