Honest taxi driver returns $50,000 in dollar bills to businessman after finding it on back seat of his Cambridge cab (and pockets a $500 tip)
By Daily Mail Reporter
25th April 2011
An honest cab driver has returned $50,000 to a Middle Eastern businessman - after he left the small fortune in the back of his taxi.
Shocked Nigel Lipscombe, 54, discovered bundles of cash - worth £30,000 - stuffed inside a rucksack abandoned on the backseat after dropping off a passenger in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire.
But instead of pocketing the cash, which is equivalent of a year-and-a-half's wages, kind-hearted Nigel drove his taxi straight to the city's police station.
Incredibly the passenger was walking out of the station just seconds after reporting to police he had lost the cash.
Nigel handed back the money then gave the Arab businessman a lift to a local pub to celebrate - and even pocketed a $500 tip.
The generous dad-of-two said his stunned passenger was 'jumping for joy' when he handed back the small fortune.
He added: 'I wouldn't have kept it. I've always been an honest man. I wouldn't do it if it was a million pounds.'
Proud partner Doreen Kavanagh, 42, said the cash could have taken the whole family on a luxury holiday.
She added: 'He did the right thing. I could have taken my kids to Disneyland. The girls are 21 and 22 now but we always dreamed of going.
'We just never had the money.'
Nigel picked up his rich passenger from a taxi rank the city centre on April 16 and drove him to a student block of flats several miles away.
When he picked up a second passenger 20 minutes later they found a rucksack containing bundles of notes and a laptop.
He drove the bag to Parkside police station and when it was counted out he discovered it amounted to 50,000 dollars and 1,000 Euros - the equivalent of £31,000.
Nigel said: 'I picked him up from the city centre and he asked to be taken to just off Hills Road.
'On the way he asked if I knew anywhere he could watch football. I said he could go to The Emperor pub but then he changed his mind.
'I dropped him off at a student accommodation block and thought then nothing of it.
'Another passenger got in and asked if it was my bag on the back seat. I told him it was the last passenger's and I took it.
'When I looked in I could see a laptop and what felt like some documents but I didn't unzip the compartment to look.
'I went to the police station and the man was just coming out. He was jumping about with delight.
'The man said he'd better tell the police he'd found the bag and I said I'd go in with him.
'When he told the woman at the counter she said 'you shouldn't be carrying $50,000 in cash around with you'. I was shocked. It was incredible.' 'When he gave me the $200 tip I joked: 'is that all I get?'.
'I asked why he was carrying around $50,000 in cash and he said that in his country they don't trust banks.
'He gave me another $300 then. I was only joking.'
A spokesman for Cambridgeshire Constabulary said: 'A man came into Parkside police station at 7.45pm on Saturday, April 16, with three friends and reported he had left a bag with $50,000 in it, €1,000, a laptop and his passport.
'We took a note and he left the station when the taxi driver pulled up outside with the bag.
'They all came into the station. We gave the man strong words of advice about carrying such a large amount of cash.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z1KXgrjV1L
Dumbass 
