Remember when Ed McMahon would surprise sweepstakes winners with a large check? Louisiana Treasurer John Fleming did that on Dec. 11, when he gave Jermaine Williams of Hammond a check for $24,871,06. But it wasn’t a prize, it was money owed to him by the state.
Fleming said one in six Louisianans have unclaimed funds the state is holding and he encourages everyone to visit LAcashClaim.org.
“And you can go and provide a little bit of information and claim whatever might be owed to you. People are surprised all the time when it comes to money that is owed to them by the state of Louisiana.”
When companies have funds owed to an individual and they can’t find them, they turn them over to the state. Treasurer John Fleming said the money can come from a number of places.
“It could be a utility deposit that you forgot about. It could be a tax refund that somehow never made it to you,” said Fleming.
This year alone Louisiana’s Treasury has written roughly 28,000 checks totaling $5.1 million. Since 2018, by matching data with the Department of Revenue the treasury has been able to reunite more funds with their rightful owner.
“Many times people are surprised and we worry, and we alert people, look I know it might look like it’s a bogus scam or something like that. But no, this is a real check and please don’t throw it away,” said Fleming.
Fleming said you can always call the Department of Treasury at 1-888-925-4127 if you’re suspicious of a check you’ve received. You can also check their website LAcashClaim.org to see if you have money waiting for you.
“There’s over $1 billion owed out there so if you look at the scale of money owed, it’s a good chance that there are a number of listeners that are owed money and they have no idea,” said Fleming.
