Finding $12,000 Hidden In A Restaurant Cabinet
Sak Yiengjuntuek bought Lemongrass Vietnamese Pho and Thai Cuisine in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, in April 2025 and inherited a couple of old cabinets that had been left behind by the previous owner, which he moved outside behind the building and largely forgot about. Then on New Year's Day, a fire broke out at the Wholesale Furniture Gallery next door and knocked out power to the restaurant, forcing him to close for months. When the power finally came back on, Yiengjuntuek started cleaning up and decided to move one of the old cabinets to his house rather than leave it sitting outside. As he was going through it, he opened a leather sunglasses case he found in one of the drawers. Inside was $12,000 in cash. He described the money as very thick and his reaction as pure shock. His next thought, he told Today.com, was not about keeping it.
The first thing in his mind, Yiengjuntuek said, was to find the right person to get the money back to. He tracked down the previous owner, made contact, and returned every dollar. When he reached the former owner, he found a man who was in the middle of a serious health battle and struggling with medical bills, and the money, in his own words, could not have come at a better time. The story spread across Myrtle Beach, where people began recognizing Yiengjuntuek around town and thanking him. A woman at the post office told him she had seen him on the news and that he had done the right thing. He said he told her he was proud of it, and that he liked being a good part of the community. Asked what he hoped people would take from his story, Yiengjuntuek had a one-sentence answer that has been shared widely since: do the right thing, and don't give up honesty.
