Geneva, Switzerland - When an elderly man suddenly realised that he was missing more than $20 000 (about R345K) in cash just withdrawn from a Swiss bank, he assumed he had been robbed.
Instead, a couple found the wad of notes stuffed into an envelope, and dropped in the street, went to his home to return the cash in full, police said Thursday.
Officers said the man, who is mute, went to the bank in the small town of Martigny in southern Switzerland and withdrew 20 000 Swiss francs ($21,260).
When he got home, he realised that his envelope was missing.
Assuming that he must have been pick-pocketed on the way home, he went to the police to report the money stolen.
It turned out, however, that he was not the victim of foul play but had simply dropped the envelope as he got into his car, parked outside the bank.
A couple found the envelope, which, in addition to the wad of notes, contained a withdrawal slip that included the man's address.
They went to his home to return the cash in full.
The man was so grateful he gave the couple 500 francs, police said, hailing a "lovely story of citizen honesty."
The happy ending pales in comparison to another man in Germany who picked up a cheque for for $4.7 million at Frankfurt station.
Instead of trying to cash it in, he decided to return it to the original owner, confectionery company Haribo, probably thinking he would be greatly rewarded for his kind deed.
Once he had emailed them the proof, Haribo allegedly sent him a package of just six bags of sweets as a reward.
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