Man to receive reward for returning money

CLEVELAND - The man who scooped up $640,000 that fell from the back of an armored truck and then kept the cash for two days will get the promised $75,000 after all, the FBI said yesterday.

"He did the right thing," said Van Harp, head of the FBI office in Cleveland, "although, like I said, it was two days later."

Mark Morant, 38, of Cleveland, had appealed for the reward on Sunday while accompanied by George Forbes, a longtime leader with the Cleveland branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and a former city council president.

Morant, who does not have a listed phone, could not be reached for comment, but Forbes said the $75,000 reward was satisfactory. "You certainly can't cry about that," he said.

As for whether he was concerned that the reward was announced only after Morant and Forbes sought to pressure the FBI, Forbes said, "He didn't return it (the cash) for two days, so they were late returning the reward. It's all fair."

Despite the delay in returning the money, Harp said, "The money was returned intact and we would certainly hope that, should an event like this occur prospectively, that the public would come forward."

Harp said the FBI was ready to recommend to the armored car company, AT Systems Inc., that Morant get the full reward even before the Morant news conference on Sunday.

Harp said he was authorized to speak for AT, which declined comment when contacted by phone.