Service Tech Returns $10,000 Found In Trade-In

While combing through a recent vehicle trade-in, a dealership employee found something very valuable. Instead of pocketing the item, as he easily could have, he did what many would consider to be the right thing.

Brett Cadoratch, a service technician at Crown Hyundai in St. Petersburg, Florida found money while cleaning up a trade-in vehicle. Cadoratch found an envelope in the vehicle with $10,000 cash in new $100 dollar bills. Cadoratch admitted to WFLA  he was tempted to keep the money and perhaps pay off his house but that he wasn’t raised that way and knew that he had to do the right thing.

Cadoratch told his boss at the dealership about the money he found and together they tracked down the owner. It turns out that a 70-year-old woman traded in the vehicle. This woman, who wished to remain anonymous, had been widowed for two years and before his passing her husband put the money in the car as a gift.

The daughter of the woman who traded in the Hyundai, Belinda Sawyer, told WFLA, “For that individual, to be honest, to give that money back, says a lot about the person and about the company that he works for, and we just wanted to say thank you to him because he’s an extremely special person.” Sawyer reportedly bought doughnuts for the entire service department and gave Cadoratch a gift as a token of appreciation for his honesty.

What do you think of this service technician going the extra mile to be honest and track down the owner of the cash? What kinds of items have been found at your store while going through trade-ins?