Syrian refugee hands in €150,000 he found in donated wardrobe

Anyone who has ever bought second hand furniture will know that sometimes things come with unexpected surprises hidden away in their drawers, but it's usually just an old tissue or a broken coat hanger. But for one Syrian refugee who was settling into his new German home with furniture donated by charity, it was quite another story.

Muhannad M. found €150,000 shortly after moving into his new flat in Minden, north Rhine-Westphalia, according to German police. He had been able to furnish his flat largely due to contributions from charities, and the wardrobe was included among the donations.

Inside one of the wardrobe's compartments he found savings books that were worth €100,000, plus €50,000 in cash.

"They were all new €500 notes. I thought it was fake money," he told German national newspaper Bild. He scoured the web for clues to find out whether the cash was real, and came to the conclusion that it was.

He then informed migration authorities who told the police, saying that his religion prevented him from taking the money for himself. "Allah would never allow me to finance my own interests with someone else's wealth," he said.

Police are now on a mission to track down the cash's rightful owner.

"This young man has acted in an exemplary way and deserves great respect," a police spokesperson said.

"It sometimes happens that smaller amounts of money are handed in. But this kind of money is the absolute exception."

Muhannad will receive 3% of the cash as a finder's fee. He arrived in Germany in October 2015, although the rest of his family are still in Syria.