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Champ Bhaumik's luck is overflowing and he wants to share it with whoever found his cash-filled wallet in a bus stop and returned it.
Bhaumik, a Calgary engineer, won $1,200 from a VLT machine the night of Jan. 3.
Rushing to get to his bus at the Heritage C-Train station the next day, he dropped his wallet, bulging with bills.
An unidentified woman found it and handed it to Mohammed Aden, the first bus driver she saw.
Bhaumik said he was overjoyed to get back his missing wallet -- not for the money, but for the IDs, photographs, credit cards and other items.
"It was fabulous to have it back," said the man, who's now searching for the Good Samaritan. "I'm very happy, that was the best thing that happened to me in the New Year," he said.
Bhaumik said he wasn't surprised somebody turned in his wallet. "I know there are people out there, they could have used that money, but they would never feel comfortable with it."
Bhaumik attempted to give a reward to Aden, who put the wallet in the lost-and-found system of the Calgary Transit.
Aden said returning items found on transit property is part of his job.
Accepting a reward is not.
"To me, money that I didn't earn or that didn't belong to me, I don't give value," said Aden.
"What makes me happy is when the person who rightfully owns it gets it back, that makes me happy."
The eight-year Calgary Transit driver said customers lose a lot of things, including cellphones and wallets, but it's rare to find a pile of cash.
Like Bhaumik, Aden has been looking for the woman who turned in the wallet to thank her.
"I actually stopped a woman who looked like her, but it wasn't her," said Aden.
"I want to thank that lady, she was very honest," said the driver.
He hopes others do the same if they find something valuable that doesn't belong to them.
"I'm a believer in treat others the way you want to be treated," said Aden.
Bhaumik said he wants the Good Samaritan to come forward so he can thank her and offer a $100 cash reward.
Failing that, he plans on donating $100 to the Red Cross.
RENATO.GANDIA@SUNMEDIA.CA