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Some Fair Goers Find Pot of Gold

The Golden Driller on the Tulsa Fairgrounds.
KWGS News Photo
The Golden Driller on the Tulsa Fairgrounds.

Tulsa, OK – OKLAHOMA CITY Cash and stock worth more than $175,000 was found for 310 people attending the 2009 Tulsa State Fair, State Treasurer Scott Meacham announced today. The money was found for fair patrons who visited the treasurer's "Pot of Gold" booth in the Quik Trip Center.

As administrator of Oklahoma's unclaimed property program, Meacham has more than $300 million for more than 500,000 people.

The $178,589 was found by treasurer's workers with laptop computers who conducted 3,272 searches at this year's fair. This was the fifth consecutive year the office operated the booth at the Tulsa fair.

"Even though the fair is over, Oklahomans can always search for unclaimed property on our web site, www.treasurer.ok.gov," Meacham said.
"Also, our service is always free. There is never a charge for returning lost money to its rightful owners."

Earlier this year, Meacham and staff found more than $278,000 for more than 500 visitors to the Oklahoma State Fair in Oklahoma City. Since first setting up the booths at the two major state fairs, a total of $3.7 million has been found for 9,100 people.

The largest amount found at the Tulsa fair was almost $15,000 in liquidated stock for a brother and sister in Stillwater.

Examples of unclaimed property include bank accounts, security deposits, old paychecks, overpayments, royalties, rebates, stock and bonds.
The contents of abandoned safe deposit boxes are also included.

The cash and property are turned over to the State Treasurer's office when the businesses holding them lose track of the owners. Treasurer Meacham's Unclaimed Property Division then publishes the names, operates an online search engine at www.treasurer.ok.gov and conducts other outreach, such as booths at the two major state fairs, to help find the owners.

Meacham said he plans to operate the booth at next year's fairs in Tulsa and Oklahoma City.