UAE | Traffic and Transport

Abu Dhabi taxi driver rewarded for returning money

An Emirati woman who left behind Dh40,000 in a taxi could not remember any information about the taxi, but luckily for her the driver was an honest man who returned all her money.

  • By Binsal Abdul Kader, Staff Reporter
  • Published: 23:39 June 8, 2008
  • Gulf News

  • Image Credit: Ravindranath/Gulf News
  • Mohammad Al Sharif with his certificate for honesty.

Abu Dhabi: An Emirati woman who left behind Dh40,000 in a taxi could not remember any information about the taxi, but luckily for her the driver was an honest man who returned all her money.

Mohammad Al Sharif, 23, from Yemen, found an envelope from a bank in his taxi shortly after he had dropped off a passenger, and when he opened it he discovered the Dh40,000.

"I told myself if I took that money something bad would happen to me," said Al Sharif, who earns about Dh5,000 a month. He rushed to the place where the passenger was dropped off and found the woman in tears on the road.

"When I gave her the money, she did not know how to express her happiness and tried to hug me as a mother hugs her son.

"She opened her wallet and gave me a wad of notes. She did not let me go without accepting that money [Dh1,800]," he said.

Khalid Saleh Al Rashidi, General Manager of TransAD, presented Al Sharif with a certificate on Sunday for his honesty.

Al Sharif's company, National Taxi, also gave him a reward of Dh1,500.

He sent the money to his wife in Yemen. He joined National Taxi Company only last month and is still waiting for his first salary.

There is one more reward waiting for him. Salam Mitri, operations manager of National Taxi, said Al Sharaf will get a premium taxi, which will enable him to earn 15 per cent more than his current taxi. "That was his only wish," said Mitri.

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