John Bedford is laundering his money before taking it to the bank.

The $500 in $50 notes is a bit muddy after spending more than a year on the bottom of Tauranga harbour.

John dropped his wallet in the tide in November 2015. As well as the usual plastic it contained $500 cash which he had withdrawn to shout his workmates on his 65^th birthday. He never thought he would see it again.

'I thought I would draw $500 out of the bank before I went and shout the whole staff, there's 18 of us, some drinks,” says the Media Works salesrep. 'I get up to the bar, go to get my wallet out, no wallet. Oh s**t someone's stolen it.

'I got a tab and paid for it the following morning.”

He's since replaced all the plastic cards, the driver's licence, bank cards, but he's no longer a member of the Motor Home Association, and it was that card that enabled John to be found when his wallet was located this week.

'Some dude in the motor home association to which I used to belong, dives in harbours looking for artefacts, and wallets and things,” says John. 'He found me bloody wallet.”

'I get a phone call Monday morning from the motorhome association, ‘John Bedford did you lose your wallet?

‘A couple or three years ago mate.

‘Where? On The Strand maybe when I was getting off a boat.

‘Definitely on The Strand. Did you have anything in it?

‘Yes, $500.'

The details were passed around and the man who found it rang John Minutes later. John told him to take a $100, but the finder refused.

'He's an Aucklander, retired. He dives for fun looking for artefacts and wallets and he goes all round New Zealand doing it. He reckoned he could dive in our harbour every day and find stuff.”