A bipartisan multistate settlement to end the outstanding damages phase of an unclaimed property dispute before the United States Supreme Court has allotted approximately $5,326,921.07 to the Commonwealth.
In 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously sided with Virginia and its coalition partners in holding that unclaimed official checks issued by MoneyGram Payment Systems, Inc. (“MoneyGram”) are governed by the Federal Disposition Act. The settlement brings to an end nearly eight years of litigation and returns to Virginians money from the unclaimed checks.
“Today’s settlement is a big win for Virginia consumers, resolving nearly eight years of litigation. We stood firm in our fight, and the Supreme Court agreed with us. I’m proud of this coalition’s efforts to bring this issue to a close, and my office’s work to secure these funds for Virginians,” said Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares.
Moneygram, a privately owned company headquartered in Dallas, was formed as a subsidiary in 1988. Madison Dearborn Partners acquired Moneygram in June 2023 and continues to operate as a money transfer service.
Under the terms of the settlement, Delaware will transfer more than $102 million of the property that MoneyGram reported to Delaware from 2011 to 2017 to the coalition states, based on each monetary instrument’s place of purchase. Virginia will assume custody of its portion of the settlement as well as responsibility to pay any claims for the property.
The settlement agreement ends the outstanding parts of the ongoing litigation before the U.S. Supreme Court.
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Rebecca Barnabi
