The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled 9-0 in favor of Arkansas and other states in a dispute over unclaimed checks from a money transfer company.
Under the 27-page opinion in Arkansas et al. v Delaware, about $250 million in unclaimed checks that MoneyGram International Inc. had turned over to Delaware will be returned to the states in which they were purchased.
The Arkansas Attorney General's Office has said the state's portion of the money is about $650,000.
The plaintiffs' argument centered on the Federal Disposition Act, which states that proceeds on unclaimed money orders, traveler’s checks and similar items must be turned over to the state where an item was purchased. The high court agreed, ruling that MoneyGram had improperly remitted the funds in question to Delaware, where the company is incorporated.
Arkansas filed an original jurisdictional action in the Supreme Court in 2016. It led a bipartisan coalition of 29 states with a leadership group from California, Texas and Wisconsin.
"For the past decade, Delaware has claimed millions of dollars that rightfully belong to us, and that money will now go where it belongs," Attorney General Tim Griffin said in a statement.
