On January 26, 2016, the Pennsylvania Treasury Department filed a lawsuit in federal district court to recover unclaimed property paid to the Delaware State Escheator by MoneyGram Payments Systems, Inc., a Delaware-incorporated entity. MoneyGram issues both money orders and “official checks,” the instruments at issue in the lawsuit.

According to Pennsylvania’s complaint, after the completion of an unclaimed property audit by the Delaware State Escheator, MoneyGram paid to Delaware $10,293,869.50, representing the value of official checks issued in Pennsylvania between 2000 and 2009 but never cashed. MoneyGram’s customers purchased the official checks in question at financial institutions by paying the face value of a check plus a transaction fee. MoneyGram was then “directly liable,” according to the complaint, for the face value of the official checks. Pennsylvania argues that, other than the location of the sale and limits on the face value of the instrument, MoneyGram’s official checks are identical to MoneyGram’s money orders.