State Treasurer Dale R. Folwell, CPA, temporarily dropped anchor and some cash at Battleship North Carolina Tuesday, June 20.
Treasurer Folwell boarded the iconic tourist attraction to return missing money that was being secured in the Department of State Treasurer’s (DST) Unclaimed Property Division (UPD), commonly called NCCash.com. He made the check presentation to retired U.S. Navy Capt. Terry Bragg, executive director of the battleship and a 30-year Naval officer who commanded a destroyer squadron in the Pacific Fleet.
Treasurer Folwell recognized the critical role the 35,000-ton Battleship North Carolina played in the Pacific Theater during World War II, and how the 728-foot National Historic Landmark that once carried a complement of 2,339 officers and enlisted men continues to meet another important mission today.
“The USS North Carolina is a huge attraction that generates money to fund schools and roads, and it is totally receipt supported,” Treasurer Folwell said. About a quarter million visitors tour the battleship annually.
During a review of data in NCCash.com, DST staff identified $825 belonging to Battleship North Carolina, which was commissioned for service in April 1941, and dedicated on April 29, 1962, as the state’s memorial to WW II veterans and 11,000 North Carolina residents who gave their lives during that war.
NCCash.com is the repository for 17.7 million properties valued at $1.02 billion under DST’s custody. The money is awaiting return to the rightful owners after being lost, misdirected or overlooked. More than 19 million owners are associated with those properties being safeguarded by DST.
Through May 31, UPD has paid 174,466 claims totaling nearly $99.7 million from NCCash. Part of that total has been disbursed through the NCCash Match program, a no-hassle, expedited system that eliminated paperwork processing. As of May 31, DST has paid 99,551 Cash Match claims totaling $26.3 million.
Under state law, UPD receives and safeguards funds that are escheated, or turned over, to DST. The unclaimed property consists of bank accounts, wages, utility deposits, insurance policy proceeds, stocks, bonds and contents of safe deposit boxes that have been abandoned.
Unclaimed property can result from a person or entity forgetting they are due money, or from a move of location and forgetting to provide a new address. It also could result from a typing error in a house number or zip code in an address, a name change, or data loss from a business converting its computer system. As society becomes more mobile and steadily moves to electronic transactions, the risk of having unclaimed property has increased.
