Dont you think there are about a thousand better places unclaimed money can go then to the U.S. Government?

Question

I will leave a link below that explains where this question comes from but heres the short of it. A man tries to exchange badly damaged money for non damaged money (this is perfectly legal and happens often) but his stories are basically b.s. to where the money came from. So now the government gets to keep around 10 million dollars. Isnt there like a thousand better charities this kind of money could be donated to, or have it go twords tax relief for all the working citizens of the U.S.? Why does the U.S. govern. just get to keep it? What are your thoughts?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080728/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/buried_millions

Answer 1

of course! but this is AMERICA and that's how it is!

Answer 2

Yes, unclaimed money should be sent to help the local county in which the money was unclaimed. Such as child abuse prevention etc.........

Answer 3

yeah i agree the govt. shouldn't have taken it

Answer 4

Ok here's the deal...

First off...the money was either seized or escheated to the government. Either way, it is NOT the property of the Government until all judicial appeals are completed.  Until then the government CANNOT do anything with it, except use it to earn more money.  The judicial problem is that if they use it to earn more money, then that interest is actually owed to the true owner, when and if it is returned.

The trick is that the government CAN keep any earnings of the cash that is over and above the standard interest earned by the money in a standardized earnings account.  I will not bore you on the details of this. The basics are that when you hold large pools of money they earn at a different rate than smaller pools.  The true owner has a right to the smaller pool rate, and the government gets to keep the rest.  

The concept is a trust account, the government is holding the money in trust until the account is finalized, and the government owes all elements of a finduciary relationship to the true owner in the meantime.

If the money were allowed to be held by a charity or other NGO, then the government would be liable for any losses.

If you want to do something a little interesting, go to your state controllers website, look up unclaimed money, and see if you have anything due you.  Dormant accounts are seized by the State on a regular basis, and if you have ever had a bank account close, escrow funds, health insurance premiums...if there is a bookkeeping error, the corporation holding that money MUST turn it over to the state, and attach it to your name.  I did this while I was writing an article about this topic and found $134...way cool!

Answer 5

Yes, there are thousands-if not millions-of better places unclaimed money can go. Though there are also worse places, such as the Saudi Government and KLA terrorists.