A class-action lawsuit was filed in Delaware federal court Friday against the leaders of the Delaware Office of Unclaimed Property.
The memorandum supports a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction in response to the Office of Unclaimed Property’s reported “escheatment scheme.”
The action was brought on behalf of Jaime Vial and other heirs of a Chilean man who owned stocks in companies incorporated in Delaware such as Citigroup Inc. and Hilton Hotels Corp. The Office of Unclaimed Property eventually seized the property without alerting any of the man’s heirs or lawyers, according to the lawsuit.
Vial contacted the Office of Unclaimed Property requesting the money be returned, legal documents state, and only years later did he receive checks worth over $2.5 million. However, the lawsuit claims that this sum was “grossly inadequate” and failed to take the current values of the stocks into account.
In response, the lawsuit demands that the state return the property to each class action member or put them in the same monetary position they would be if the property hadn’t been seized, including interest and compensation.