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Jan 13, 2010

Cab driver returns $29,000

PATCHOGUE (New York) - A BANGLADESHI cab driver in New York City is being praised for returning over US$21,000 (S$29,400) lost by a visitor from Italy. Seventy-two-year-old Felicia Lettieri, of Italy, left her purse in a Manhattan taxi on Christmas Eve. It contained traveling money for her and six relatives. Police told them not to get their hopes up about finding it. But the cabbie, Mohammad 'Mukal' Asadujjaman, drove about 80km, to a Long Island address he'd found in the purse. No one was home, so he left his phone number, and later returned with the money. The 28-year-old driver from Bangladesh said that as an observant Muslim he could not accept a reward offered by the grateful passenger. -- AP

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Mohammad "Mukal" Asadujjaman holds an interview at his home in New York, Tuesday Jan. 12, 2010. Asadujjaman is being praised for returning over $21,000 left in his taxi by a visitor from Italy. He says he's "broke but honest" and owes his values to his mother and his Muslim beliefs

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Recalling the moment the 72-year-old discovered her loss, her sister Francesca Lettieri said: 'Everybody said, "This is New York. Forget about it. You lost everything".
Felicia Lettieri returned to Pompeii and could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday. Her sister, Francesca Lettieri, 79, of Patchogue, told Newsday the honest cabbie had saved her family's vacation, and said "We really love what he did."
The cabbie, a native of Bangladesh, saw the rolls of euros when he opened the bag to look for an address, but didn't even count the money. "My mother is my inspiration," the soft-spoken cabbie said. "She always said to be honest and work hard."
The cabbie called a friend with a car and drove some 50 miles to a Patchogue address in the purse. No one was home, so Asadujjaman left his cell phone number and a note. His phone rang a short time later and he drove back to return the bag.




"They were so, so, so happy," Asadujjaman beamed.
The immigrant is a full-time student at a city college near his apartment in Jamaica, Queens. He began driving a cab a few days a week about three months ago, after his hours were cut back at a former factory job.
Asked if he was tempted to keep the cash, Asadujjaman acknowledged the money would have allowed him more time to study, "but my heart said this is not good." He also turned down a reward, saying he could not accept it as an observant Muslim.
"I'm needy, but I'm not greedy," said Asadujjaman. "It's better to be honest."