Restaurant Owner Returns $12,000 Found in Old Cabinet: “Honesty and Integrity Are Very Important”

A South Carolina Thai restaurant owner is being praised after returning $12,000 he discovered hidden inside an old toolbox cabinet that had been left behind by a previous tenant.

Sak Yiengjuntuek, owner of Lemon Grass Pho & Thai Cuisine, is being praised after returning the $12,000 he found hidden inside his restaurant in Myrtle Beach, WMBF News reported.

The Owner Discovered the $12,000 Inside a Toolbox Cabinet 

According to the outlet, a fire broke out at the Wholesale Furniture Gallery next door, forcing Yiengjuntuek to temporarily close his restaurant for several months. The fire knocked out the power, so once it was restored, he began to clean up and prepare to reopen.

While cleaning, he moved a toolbox cabinet that had been sitting behind the building to his home. The cabinet presumably belonged to the previous tenant. But when he started digging through the drawers, he found a sunglasses case holding $12,000 in cash. "It's kind of a shock to me that I found old money in the tool cabinet," he told WMBF.

The news outlet reported that the cabinet had been sitting behind his restaurant since April 2025. Yiengjuntuek said he was "always taught to do the right thing," so he knew he had to return the money to its rightful owner. He added that "honesty and integrity are very important in business and life."

When he first tried reaching out to the former owner of the cabinet, the phone number had been disconnected. But he told the outlet he thought he might have saved the person's number under another name, so he decided to give it one more shot. And this time, he got through to them. "I got some good news," he told the former owner. "I found the old money."

The former owner was ecstatic. According to WMBF, he's currently battling health issues, and "the money couldn't have come at a better time."

The clip of Yiengjuntuek sharing his story with WMBF has since been reshared by others, including X user @mattvanswol. In the comments, people praised the restaurant owner for his honesty. "Kudos for him for doing the right thing," one person wrote. "What a great person," another added. Others said he's the kind of business owner who deserves support, while some hoped he received some sort of reward for returning the cash, though he didn't share whether he did.

The Daily Dot was unable to independently verify the details of the incident. The account is based on reporting by WMBF News.