(COLUMBUS, Ohio)—Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine today announced that he has joined 20 other states in a lawsuit against the state of Delaware to seek the right to take title to unclaimed official checks that were issued by MoneyGram and sold in Ohio or the other states.
In an original action filed in the U.S. Supreme Court, the states allege that Delaware has wrongfully taken title to approximately $200 million in funds that other states are entitled to take under the federal Disposition of Abandoned Money Orders and Traveler’s Checks Act.
“We’re looking out for Ohio consumers who use money transfer services,” Attorney General DeWine said. “We want to make sure that Ohio and its citizens receive any money they’re entitled to receive. We believe that under state and federal law, if an official check is purchased in Ohio but ultimately unclaimed, that these unclaimed check funds should be turned over to Ohio, not to Delaware.”
The dispute between the 21 plaintiff states and Delaware concerns which state is entitled to abandoned and unclaimed official checks sold by MoneyGram, a money transfer services company that operates in all 50 states and internationally, and is incorporated in Delaware.
The states allege that Delaware has wrongfully directed unclaimed official checks to be turned over to Delaware rather than to the state where the check was purchased. They contend that under federal law and the law in each of the plaintiff states, such abandoned and unclaimed property must be turned over to the state where the property was purchased.
On Feb. 10, 2015, an independent auditor completed an examination of abandoned “official checks” from MoneyGram in certain states and concluded that nearly $200 million was owed to those states, including more than $26.8 million in unclaimed funds owed to Ohio.
The coalition is asking the Supreme Court to declare that the plaintiff states, and not Delaware, are entitled to the hundreds of millions of dollars improperly turned over to Delaware and to all future similar abandoned and unclaimed property. The coalition is also asking the Court to order the appropriate repayment to plaintiff states by Delaware.
In addition to Ohio, the other plaintiff states are Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia.
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