Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Bike courier returns $20,000 he found sitting atop ATM
A $50 gift certificate to Boston Pizza was Matt Magura's reward for returning money to Assiniboine Credit Union. (BORIS.MINKEVICH@FREEPRESS.MB.CA)
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AS someone who makes his living delivering important envelopes -- many of which contain sensitive financial information -- to businesses, Matt Magura can empathize with whoever forgot nearly $20,000 in bank deposits on top of an automated teller machine in downtown Winnipeg last Tuesday.
Lucky for him or her -- and for the Assiniboine Credit Union -- the 29-year-old bicycle courier took a detour from his route around 11 a.m. that morning to deposit his GST cheque at the ATM in the lobby of the Medical Arts Building on Kennedy Street.
While looking for a deposit envelope, Magura noticed a bundled stack of them sitting on top of the machine.
"I saw a $100 bill through one of the peep holes," he said during an interview Sunday. Turns out the envelopes contained around $8,000 in cash and at least that much in cheques.
"They came out of the back of the machine and were obviously supposed to go into the bank. It was probably the day's, or maybe even the long weekend's, worth of deposits," said Magura, adding that there were at least four people behind him in line.
Since he was en route to a delivery, the First Choice Courier & Messenger rider said he took care of business first, then personally delivered the misplaced loot right to the Assiniboine Credit Union's head office on Main Street.
"They were completely surprised," he recalled. But grateful, too. The credit union rewarded the honest messenger with a $50 gift certificate to Boston Pizza.
"I was happy to get anything, really," he said.
Magura, who has been making his living as a messenger for about eight years, said he hopes the fallout isn't too harsh for the bank employee who emptied the ATM but left its contents behind.
"I hope they're not in s and didn't lose their job," he said. "This stuff happens."
carolin.vesely@freepress.mb.ca
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition September 14, 2009 A4
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