WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) — Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge has notified the U.S. Supreme Court that attorneys general from California, Iowa, Maryland, Oregon, Washington and the commonwealth of Virginia seek to join Arkansas’ complaint against Delaware.
The complaint seeks to reclaim about $200 million that allegedly belongs not to Delaware, but to its sister states as mandated by the federal Disposition of Abandoned Money Orders and Traveler’s Checks Act.
“I am pleased that several more states are electing to join this growing coalition that is seeking to claim monies that do not lawfully belong to Delaware,” Rutledge said. “This is a strong case, and I am hopeful the U.S. Supreme Court will take it and let this bipartisan group reclaim money that is properly owed to the taxpayers.”
The dispute arose after Delaware said all the abandoned “official checks” sold by MoneyGram, a money transfer company that operates in every state. Delaware acted under the belief that the money should go to the state where the issuing company was incorporated. According to the lawsuit, however, the money should go to the states where each check was purchased.
Other states involved in the lawsuit include Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah and West Virginia. These states joined Arkansas in Texas for the original filing in June.