The Daily Populous Saturday July 11st, 2026 morning edition
Authored by today.com and submitted by ArgentineBeauty

A South Carolina restaurateur is being hailed as a good Samaritan after he helped return $12,000 found in a sunglasses case to the store’s former proprietor.

On June 20, NBC affiliate WLBT3 first spoke to Sak Yiengjuntuek, who owns Lemongrass Vietnamese Pho & Thai Cuisine in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, about the “shock” of finding the stash in an old cabinet and his attempts to return the money to its rightful owner.

“The money was very thick,” Yiengjuntuek tells TODAY.com, before explaining how he came upon the cache of cash earlier this month.

Back on New Year’s Day, a neighboring Wholesale Furniture Gallery caught fire, with the origin traced to an electrical room, causing several businesses, including his, to lose power for months.

Yiengjuntuek says when the power was restored earlier this month, he used the opportunity to deal with some furniture left behind by previous tenants.

“Two cabinets that belong to the previous owner,” he says. “Kind of junk. We have to put it in the back.”

The cabinet containing thousands in cash had been sitting outside for months. Courtesy Sak Yiengjuntuek

While cleaning out one of the cabinets that had been sitting outside, he spotted a sunglasses case and decided to be a little nosy.

“I saw the sunglasses case and then, you know, of course, when you see something like that, you want to open and look,” he says, adding that there was a stack of $100 bills filling the case to the brim.

“I was so shocked,” Yiengjuntuek says. “I knew right then that it belonged to the previous owner.”

Yiengjuntuek says he had difficulty reaching him because the number he had on file had been disconnected.

But, while on-air with WLBT3, he remembered he had another number for the owner. Yiengjuntuek says the relief felt in the “oh my god” heard on the other end of the line was palpable.

Sak Yiengjuntuek informs the previous owner of the cash on the news. WLBT3

Yiengjuntuek says the news was particularly timely because the previous owner has been dealing with a serious and costly health battle.

Yiengjuntuek says that people around Myrtle Beach have recognized him and let him know he did a good deed.

“The post office girl said, ‘Hey, that’s my boy, I saw you on the news, you did the right thing,’” he recalls. “I said, ‘Yeah, I will be proud of it.’ I like to be a good part of the community.”

While he’s surprised by the attention he’s getting for his kindness, he hopes his actions can inspire others.

“I just want to say: Do the right thing,” Yiengjuntuek says. “Don’t give up honesty.”

Loa_Sandal on July 10th, 2026 at 19:25 UTC »

This is a truly depressing story. In the civilised world, you don't need to pay for life-saving treatment.

A_ScalyManfish on July 10th, 2026 at 18:11 UTC »

12,000 sure could be life changing.

simplebutstrange on July 10th, 2026 at 18:03 UTC »

How does one forget about $12000? Who were they hiding it from?