$8 billion case: California authorities allowed to spend “orphan” money

Фото: Depositphotos

The US Supreme Court affirmed the right of the state of California to use the money received from liquidated banks, investment funds, and other ceased firms.

According to the Californian authorities, the state currently has a sum of 8 billion dollars. About $ 450 million is added annually to the state budget.

The authors of the lawsuit argued that California authorities were not making enough efforts to notify the owners of certain companies and structures before confiscating their accounts and property. In addition, according to lawyers, many people are not aware that their accounts are under state control.

Under state law, company accounts may be assigned by the authorities if, for at least 3 years, they have no information about the owners of law firms.

At the same time, as the state financial controller Betty Yi says, her department can return the funds to the rightful owners in the event that they receive a corresponding request. For this you need to check the data on the site. www.claimit.ca.gov. Amounts less than 5 thousand dollars, according to the controller, usually return quickly.

Judge Samuel Alito Jr. said that in the future it is necessary to determine whether state authorities should make more efforts to contact the legal owners of the property. According to him, modern technologies facilitate the process of identifying the owners of law firms.

Another judge, Clarence Thomas, said that state authorities, while receiving undoubted benefits, should not forget about their obligations to return the property to the announced owners.

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