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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsLas Vegas cab driver Gerardo Gamboa finds $US300,000 in cash on back seat
Last edited Wed Dec 25, 2013, 12:25 PM - Edit history (1)
LAS Vegas cab driver Gerardo Gamboa thought someone left a bag of chocolates in the back seat. But this stash turned out to be cold hard cash.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that Mr Gamboa was making a pick up on Monday at the Bellagio hotel and casino when a hotel doorman noticed the brown paper bag and handed it to him.
At a red light, the Checker Cab driver's curiosity got the best of him. To his surprise, he found six bundles of $US100 bills totaling $US300,000 ($336,000).
The newspaper reports that Mr Gamboa called his dispatcher and took the money to the company's main office.
http://www.news.com.au/finance/money/las-vegas-cab-driver-gerardo-gamboa-finds-us300000-in-cash-on-back-seat/story-e6frfmci-1226789808823
Even though I am a poor guy, I dont need money that doesnt belong to me, said Gamboa, a 27-year resident of Las Vegas.
dumbcat
(2,128 posts)Probably not, though.
htuttle
(23,738 posts)I wouldn't want my life to turn into a Coen brother's movie...
Cirque du So-What
(27,418 posts)Considering the possibilities where that money came from, it's not out of the question that its 'owners' might be looking for retribution against the cabbie who gave it away.
Jesus Malverde
(10,274 posts)Cirque du So-What
(27,418 posts)This coulda had a very sad ending for the conscientious cabbie.
unblock
(54,042 posts)Jesus Malverde
(10,274 posts)My God, this is cash money, said Gamboa, a Checker Cab driver for 13 years.
Gamboa immediately notified his dispatcher and drove the money to Yellow Checker Star Transportations main office after dropping off the passenger.
It then took some detective work literally, as Las Vegas police were called in to discover the rightful owner.
During the morning, Gamboa remembered driving a passenger from The Cosmopolitan to the Palms Place tower, receiving a $5 tip. He then headed to the Bellagio to get into the cab line, not noticing the paper bag in the back seat until the doorman pointed it out around 11:45 a.m.
One person showed up at Yellow Checker Star to claim the money without identification and was not the name to whom The Cosmopolitan, just south of the Bellagio, recently had recorded a $300,000 payout.
Not wanting to hand over the money under murky circumstances, cab company officials called police for help.
Casino officials and police eventually linked the money to a prominent poker player they wouldnt publicly identify.
Even after solving the mystery, the people involved were amazed by the find.
Even though I am a poor guy, I dont need money that doesnt belong to me, said Gamboa, a 27-year resident of Las Vegas.
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)Brigid
(17,621 posts)PCIntern
(26,700 posts)a real sleeper...it's a WOW!
Jesus Malverde
(10,274 posts)A poker player who left $300,000 in the back seat of a Las Vegas taxi made good on his promise this week, handing over a $10,000 reward to the honest cabbie who returned the stash.
Yellow Checker Star Cab Company CEO Bill Shranko confirmed Friday that Gerardo Gamboa had been paid by the poker player. The cab company also honored the driver's good deed by naming him employee of the year, awarding him $1,000 and giving him a gift certificate to a Las Vegas steakhouse.
It's unclear how Gamboa plans to spend the belated Christmas gift. He did not immediately return a call from The Associated Press on Friday.
The tale, first reported by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, started Monday when Gamboa made a pickup at the Bellagio casino. A hotel doorman noticed a brown paper bag on the back seat and handed it to him; Gamboa thought it was candy.
http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Gambler-rewards-man-who-returned-300K-left-in-cab-5096550.php