Pennsylvania to claim more than $20 million in unclaimed property in MoneyGram settlement

Pennsylvania to claim more than $20 million in unclaimed property in MoneyGram settlement

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity announced that the Commonwealth is entitled to more than $20 million in unclaimed property following the Delaware v. Pennsylvania et al case.

Originally filed in 2016, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled in Pennsylvania's favor in Feb. 2023. According to an official statement, SCOTUS discovered that Delaware received funds in the form of uncashed checks purchased in other states as unclaimed property from MoneyGram Payment Systems, Inc. Per the Federal Disposition Act, these checks will now be escheated to the states in which they were purchased.

“This settlement concludes nearly eight years of litigation – and it’s a lawsuit that Pennsylvania should never have been compelled to initiate,” Treasurer Garrity said. “The good news is that Pennsylvanians who did business with MoneyGram will have a real chance to be reunited with their money – as will people in every state where MoneyGram sells its products. Delaware’s refusal to amicably resolve this dispute when it was first raised in 2014 will result in the payment of over $190 million to the litigant states.”

Pennsylvania has collected $6,256,096 remitted to Treasury by MoneyGram in April for 2023 and 2024, as well as approximately $14 million covering back to 2011 approved in the settlement.

“This is a huge win for Pennsylvania consumers, and the right standard has been set for the future,” Treasurer Garrity said. “The U.S. Supreme Court agreed with us that these checks should be returned to the states where they were purchased, and this settlement is the first step in getting that money back into the right hands. I’m proud of the legal team here at Treasury for leading the successful effort to establish this important precedent in national unclaimed property law.”

Any Pennsylvanians who bought an uncashed MoneyGram check since Jan. 1, 2011 are encouraged to visit  patreasury.gov/unclaimed-property to file a claim.

Source: Fox42