The rich could get even richer – if they stopped leaving money on the table.
People owed part of the $20 billion in “unclaimed funds” from the New York comptroller’s office include a Who’s Who of political, business and entertainment figures — from President Trump and first lady Melania to Rep. The city’s Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, billionaires Jeff Bezos and Mike Bloomberg and music stars Jay-Z and Lady Gaga.
A plaintiff named Barack Obama also owes money.
Even Gov. Kathy Hochul is listed as a debtor in a government agency.
Under state law, after three years, the business must report and turn over unclaimed funds to Comptroller Tom DiNapoli’s office for safekeeping.
“People move, change jobs or forget old bank accounts. If money is left behind, my office protects that money and helps the rightful owners claim it,” DiNapoli told The Post.
“We give back over $2 million a day – more than any other county.”
The fund includes more than 55 million people and credit organizations, including:
- Donald Trump, formerly of the TV show “The Apprentice,” owes money from NBC Universal Media and “various physical assets” from TSG Interactive US Services LTD, which provides online poker.
- Melania Trump has an unredeemed gift certificate from Bergdorf Goodman and credit account balances at Christian Dior and Richemont North America.
- Ivanka Trump has credit balances at Tiffany & Company and Neiman Marcus Group and owes money to Getty Images, Google Inc. and overpayment from Baccarat Inc.
- Trump negotiator Steve Witkoff has government checks waiting for him and shares of Walt Disney Co. and revenue from NBC Universal. In 2018, he guest-starred on “Law & Order,” one of his favorite TV shows.
- Billionaire Jeff Bezos has an old return waiting for him from the country’s Internal Revenue Service, which was first reported in 2018.
- Billionaire former Mayor Mike Bloomberg has unredeemed gift certificates and merchant checks or balances with Federal Express and Verizon.
- Jay-Z, whose legal name is Shawn Carter, and his Marcy Productions are owed money from Entertainment Partners.
- Material Girl Madonna owes money to the federal taxpayer and royalties from Screenlife LLC
- Stefani Germanotta, aka Lady Gaga, has a claim against Elevance Health Inc.
- Alicia “Fallin” Keys owes a check to MTV, before 2010.
- Mariah Carey owes Mirage Entertainment and money from the state of Michigan.
- Rapper Nasir “Nas” Jones owes money from Cast & Crew Talent Services and Walt Disney Co.
- Actor Robert DeNiro has claims for wages and profits from the Walt Disney Co. and Amazon and other funds from old checking and savings accounts.
- Hochul owes money to an unnamed national company.
- Former “Love Gov”. Eliot Spitzer reportedly overpaid American Express and will receive a refund.
- Ocasio-Cortez owes a refund or rebate to Con Edison.
- Ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo owes a check to the state and money to insurance companies.
- Chris Cuomo owes wages to NBCUniversal.
- Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who is coming out of trouble, has outstanding balances with Sunrise Bank and Bank of America.
- Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. you have extra cash at Mass General Brigham Hospital, and balances with Chubb & Son and Amex.
- There is Barack Obama who owes money to PayPal and Yahoo. It is not clear whether it is the former president.
- The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation owes money to Sales Force Inc. and Regence Blue Shield.
- Billionaire John Catsimatidis’ son John Jr. and daughter Andrea have pending checks from the government agency as well as refunds and dividends from financial institutions.
People can check to see if they owe money on the search engine of the guardian’s unclaimed funds website.
Because of privacy protections, it’s not clear how much each person owes. The complainant can call the administrator’s office to find out.
“Famous or not, big money or little money, it’s common for people to lose track of old accounts, checks, gift cards and refunds,” said Jennifer Freeman, DiNapoli’s attorney.
“That’s why we’re making sure hard-working New Yorkers can easily claim their lost money.” These are tough times when gas and grocery prices are rising, so every little bit helps.
“We regularly connect with people, businesses and non-profit organizations and hold events across the state,” she said.
“We use statistical tools and data matching to reach people who may have lost money. We are legally required to verify the ownership of unclaimed funds, but tools to help with the verification process have improved significantly in recent years.”
The number of unclaimed funds has increased because states including New York have gotten more aggressive about requiring banks, insurance companies, utilities and businesses to report unclaimed funds, the comptroller’s office said.
“New York has always had strong laws to protect people’s money and help them claim what’s theirs,” said Freeman.
The total amount of unclaimed funds in 2023 was $18.4 billion, $19 billion in 2024 and $20 billion in 2025.
“We check banks, insurance companies and businesses to make sure that the law is being followed and that they are changing money that doesn’t belong to them,” said a representative of the watchdog.
