Police are thanking a Good Samaritan who found an envelope containing $9,000 in downtown Victoria on Tuesday and turned it in.

City police say in a news release that the money was immediately stored for safekeeping and officers began the search for its owner.

The next day, police say a local business owner called the department to report a missing envelope that contained the same amount.

They say a constable working on the case made the connection between the two files.

Police say the business owner went to the station Friday with documents that proved it belonged to them and told the officer that the money was for Christmas bonuses for their staff.

Police did not release the identity of the Good Samaritan or the business owner but say the money has been returned just in time for Christmas Eve.

—The Canadian Press