Treasury Department Unclaimed Bonds Center of a Lawsuit

Federal government is facing a lawsuit over an issue of bonds that were sold to get funds for World War II. The suit is about those $billions bonds that is unclaimed. There was a largest advertising campaign by the cartoonists, celebrities and politicians to sale these bonds. Almost every American family purchased these bonds according to their capacity and many of them never got them cashed. Federal government continued to sale “Series E” war bonds until 1980 with a maturity time of 40 years. The amount of bonds which are unclaimed is up to 16 $billions. People did not claim these bonds because either they forgot about them or either the original purchasers died.
The state attorneys charged that the federal government did nothing to find those people. They argue that the money should be given to the concerned states that have their own systems to find their people.

“It’s better for the millions of American who are the rightful owners to have it returned to the states, because the states will make a real effort to find them,” said David Bishop, a partner at Kirby McInerney who is representing the states in the suit. “And if after searching for them they can’t find them, the money can go to work in the communities where the bonds were purchased.”

The Treasury Department claims that they too have their system of finding those people. They say that they have made a website where people can have information about their bond by simply type their Social Security Number.

“One of the misunderstandings out there is that there is a lot of cash sitting somewhere in a drawer. Money from savings bonds was used to run the daily operating expenses of the government,” said Joyce Harris, with the Bureau of the Public Debt. “These are obligations of the federal government, not the states. There is no pot of gold out there just waiting for someone to grab it.”

The department also claims that nearly 99 percent bonds have been claimed and those who are not claimed yet might be belonged to those who don’t want to cash them either for tax reasons or either their patriotism.

“Quite frankly, people are aware of the bonds,” she said. “A majority, when you contact them, are aware of the bonds.”

The complaint was first filed in by New Jersey and North Carolina as the plaintiffs in federal court in 2004 while Missouri, Kentucky, Oklahoma and Montana joined the case later. The states will be beneficial if they win the lawsuit.
Source news.puggal.com