adminThe cash had been stolen from a restaurant and the owner was so grateful he offered the couple a job.
Mr dos Santos and Ms Domingues, both (36), have been homeless for a year and live underneath a viaduct in Brazil’s largest city, Sao Paulo.
They had been asleep in the early hours of Sunday when they heard a noise and went to investigate. On the way they found the bag with the money lying near a bus stop.
The loot — 20 000 Brazilian reals in notes and coins — would have been enough for the couple to buy their own home and leave the streets.
But Mr dos Santos, who earns about £5 a day selling recyclable rubbish, said his first thought when he saw all the money was to call the police.
He told Brazil’s Globo TV station: “I learned from my mother never to take what doesn’t belong to me.
“When the policemen arrived and saw the amount of money they couldn’t believe I was giving it back. I hope my mother sees me on TV and knows that her son still remembers everything she taught him.”
Police said that as well as the money there were cheques and receipts which enabled them to determine that the money was stolen last week from a Japanese restaurant.
One of the restaurant’s owners, Miguel Kikuchi (42) said at first he didn’t believe that the money had been found.
He said: “When the police called me I thought it was a prank call. It’s unimaginable that someone would be so honest, especially someone who needed the money so much.
“It’s still really difficult to believe. They are very special people.”
Grateful Mr Kikuchi has now offered the couple a job in his restaurant, which they accepted.
Ms Domingues said: “Much better honest hard work than spend stolen dirty money. Now we’ll have a job and we’ll be able to leave the streets for good. We haven’t
regretted handing in the money, not for one moment.”
Mr dos Santos said he moved to Sao Paulo 16 years ago from Maranhao, north Brazil, to work as a builder but started living on the street after being unable to pay his debts and separated from his then-wife, with whom he has a son.
On the streets he met Ms Domingues, with whom he has been living for about four months. All the couple own is a mattress, two blankets and a suitcase with their clothes, he added. — Daily Mail
Online Reporter