MBTA employee returns wallet containing more than $900

By Melissa M. Werthmann, Globe Correspondent

The person who left a wallet containing more than $900 on an MBTA bus has been reunited with the money, thanks to an honest MBTA employee.

Gaynol Waugh has been a T repairer since 2005 and is training to get his commercial driver’s license, he said in a telephone interview.

He boarded the Route 101 bus in the Charlestown garage at 8:30 a.m. Monday with the rest of his training class and found a wallet on a seat near the front of the bus, he said.

“Whether it be one dollar or a million, it’s not mine and it’s not the right thing to do,” Waugh said. “I’ve always felt that way.”

Waugh, 34, of Norton checked the wallet to make sure there was an ID inside, zipped it closed, and gave it to his instructor.

“It’s not my money and obviously it belongs to somebody and I just wanted to make sure she got it back,” Waugh said.

Kevin Graney, district superintendent at the Charlestown bus facility, contacted the owner of the wallet.

“It went through quite a number of people before it came to me,” Graney said.

Waugh had given it to his instructor, who then gave it to an MBTA inspector, who gave it to Graney, he noted.

“I looked inside and saw a lot of money,” said Graney, who has been with the MBTA for 20 years.

He counted the money in front of another employee and called directory assistance to locate the rightful owner of the wallet, which contained $912, he said.

“They were overjoyed,” Graney said. “Couldn’t believe the honesty.”