Kurdish man reunites small fortune in cash and gold found on Duhok streets with owner

A Kurdish man is being praised for finding the owner of a small fortune accidentally dropped in the streets of Duhok and returning it to him, an act of decency and honesty that has been winning the humble shopkeeper accolades across the region.

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – A Kurdish man is being praised for finding the owner of a small fortune accidentally dropped in the streets of Duhok and returning it to him, an act of decency and honesty that has been winning the humble shopkeeper accolades across the region.

Amad Khurshid, a shopkeeper in Duhok, told Kurdistan 24 on Wednesday that while he was on his way to his stand in the Duhok marketplace last week, he stopped a bag on the street.

“I pulled my car over near my shop. I saw a bag, there, on a crowded street,” Khurshid said, recalling his movements from last Thursday, one day before Eid al-Fitr.

“When I checked inside, I saw there were bundles of cash and gold. I told myself I have to find the owner and return it to them by any means.”

He contacted Duhok police and informed them about the incident. He kept the $37,500 in cash and 70 grams of gold safe until the police were able to find the owner.

Khurshid stated that after a few days, the owner contacted him, telling him what had happened and confirming the amount of money and gold he had lost.

The owner, from the town of Akre in Duhok province, explained he had sold the house he inherited from his father and was looking to distribute among his siblings, according to Khurshid.

“The owner came to me, with his brothers, to take the money and gold. They seemed poor, and were very happy that they could retrieve it.”

The owner told Khurshid that he was shopping last week with his family in preparation for Eid. They dropped the money in a nylon bag, similar to the other bags, and was inadvertently lost after a quick stop.

“I always tell people when they find something to please return it to the rightful owner. They and the entire community will be delighted, and it saves us from so many problems. It is good for all of us and society,” Khurshid stressed.

The young Kurd mentioned that the owner of the bag offered him some money as a reward, which he politely declined.

Khurshid’s mother, with great expressions of pride in her son, told Kurdistan 24, “Thank God, our family raised us this way.”

Khurshid’s father also revealed this was not the first time his son stumbles upon money and gold, only to return it to its owner.

Editing by Nadia Riva

(Additional reporting by Masoud Mohammed)