Comment State law and abandoned funds (Score 2) 73
Many states have laws requiring abandoned funds be turned into the State Comptroller's office with the transaction details. Consumers then have typically 5 years to claim the funds, after which it escheats to the state.
The fines for failing to do so are quite spectacular in some jurisdictions, sometimes up to the greater of 7 times the funds or a quarter of a million dollars per each count, which ever is greater.