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Liberian teen becomes hero for finding and returning $50,000

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Posted at 12:50 PM, Oct 15, 2021
and last updated 2021-10-15 12:50:40-04

MONROVIA, Liberia (AP) — A teenager in Liberia who has become a national hero after finding $50,000 and returning it to its rightful owner said he would meet with the country's president next week.

Emmanuel Tuloe told The Associated Press that he had been invited to meet President George Weah on Monday, and he will talk to him about returning to school.

“I will ask him to encourage other young people to leave motorcycling and go to school because there’s nothing in it ( the motorcycle taxi business),” Tuloe said in his interview with the news outlet.

Tuloe's father confirmed to the AP that his son will get to meet the country's president, saying they had extended an invitation out to him.

The 18-year-old says he had to drop out of school in the seventh grade to begin a taxi service with his motorcycle to make money to help his family.

He told the AP that he was driving his motorcycle taxi on Tuesday when he spotted the money wrapped in a plastic bag.

“I was afraid because it was plenty (of money), and so I brought it home and gave it to my aunty to keep until the owner could ask for it," he told the AP.

The news outlet reported that the businesswoman who lost the money, Musu Yancy, went on the radio to plead for the money to be returned, which Tuloe did.

The Liberian Anti-Corruption Commission commended Tuloe for returning the money to the businesswoman who lost it.