SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) - Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs announced that a record $303.8 million in unclaimed funds has been returned to nearly 312,000 residents, businesses, and organizations through the I-CASH program in Fiscal Year 2025.
To celebrate this achievement, Frerichs presented a check for over $200,000 to the Orphans of the Storm animal shelter in Riverwoods. This generous donation comes from a late Lake County woman who chose the shelter as a beneficiary of her life insurance policy.
"We made common-sense changes to I-CASH to return more money to more folks, and we are proud to set records," Frerichs said. "But we're even more proud of helping people. One of my biggest fights was to take on insurance companies to make sure life insurance benefits rightfully end up with the people and organizations they were left to."
I-CASH is one of the longest-running consumer protection programs in Illinois. The Illinois State Treasurer’s Office is responsible for safeguarding and returning unclaimed property. This includes items like forgotten safe deposit box contents, unpaid life insurance benefits, old bank accounts, and unused rebate cards.
The Treasurer is required by law to return these unclaimed assets to their rightful owners or heirs, regardless of how long it takes.
Recently, Treasurer Frerichs set a new record by returning $303.8 million in missing money, surpassing last year's total of $301 million.
"It's not just people we return money to, but businesses and organizations as well," Frerichs said. "We encourage business owners and nonprofit groups to check the I-CASH site to see if we have money waiting for them to claim."
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