Man Finds $140K, Gives It Back

When Eli Estrada found $140,000 in unmarked bills sitting in the middle of the road, he thought he was rich. “That’s just your first reaction,” Estrada tells the Los Angeles Times, “but it’s not yours, and you feel nervous… like you did something wrong.” So the 40-year-old landscaper, deep in debt and supporting his mother, took the money directly to police.

Authorities were flabbergasted. “I've had people come to me with purses and wallets with cash in it and they'll turn it in,” said a police spokesman. “But not like this.” Estrada didn’t even ask for a reward, though the bank that lost the money eventually gave him $2,000. “They should have given him 10%,” says his mother. (More money stories.)