Delaware hands over more than $102 million in MoneyGram settlement

Delaware has agreed to hand over more than $102 million connected to MoneyGram in a U.S. Supreme Court settlement with dozens of states. 

Delaware, as well as officials from Arkansas, Pennsylvania, California, Texas, and Wisconsin, announced in a press release Aug. 28 on behalf of a bipartisan coalition of 30 states that they have agreed to a settlement to end the outstanding damages phase of an unclaimed property dispute before the U.S. Supreme Court. In 2023, a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court sided with Arkansas and its coalition partners in holding that unclaimed official checks issued by MoneyGram Payment Systems Inc. are governed by the Federal Disposition Act.

Under 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. Delaware’s transfer represents about half of the report years disputed in the litigation. In addition, about $89 million deposited by MoneyGram in a litigation escrow account from 2018 to 2022, plus interest earned, will be distributed among all 50 states based on each instrument’s place of purchase. The coalition states will receive nearly $55 million, plus earned interest, from the escrow account.

States will assume custody and responsibility to return any property received under the terms of the settlement or from the escrow account to owners, including paying any claims for the property, officials said.

The settlement agreement ends the outstanding parts of the ongoing litigation before the U.S. Supreme Court.

“Delaware is pleased to bring this matter to a close with the signing of this historic interstate settlement agreement,” said Brenda R. Mayrack, Delaware state escheator and director of the Office of Unclaimed Property. “Going forward, we look forward to working cooperatively and constructively with our sister states to focus on reuniting owners with their property and improving holder compliance with state unclaimed property laws.”

Other state officials applauded the settlement.

“The Pennsylvania Treasury Department first questioned the reporting of this type of property by MoneyGram to Delaware nine years ago, leading the way on this important issue,” said Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity. “Under this settlement, Pennsylvania residents will be able to claim their unclaimed funds directly from the state treasury. I’m pleased to finally conclude this case and eager to start returning this money.”

“This settlement is an important step toward clarifying the proper disposition of abandoned official checks, which prior to today have improperly been delivered to Delaware,” said California State Controller Malia Cohen. “The owners of these checks can now claim them directly from the state where they were purchased rather than a state that had no connection to their sale.”

“I am pleased that we have been able to reach an agreement with Delaware to release money wrongfully withheld from Texas in violation of federal law,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said. “Texas worked diligently with Arkansas and all of our coalition partners to ensure that unclaimed funds wrongly delivered to Delaware were released to the states with rightful claims.”

In addition to Arkansas, Pennsylvania, California, Texas and Wisconsin, the original action in the Supreme Court against Delaware was joined by the states of Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wyoming.