A. A person who fails to pay or deliver property within the time prescribed by the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act may be required to pay interest at the annual rate of ten percent (10%) on the property or value thereof from the date the property should have been paid or delivered.
B. In addition to the penalty imposed in subsection A of this section, a person who willfully fails to render any report or deliver property or perform any other duties required under the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act may be required to pay a civil penalty of One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) for each day the report is withheld or the duty is not performed, but not more than Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00).
C. A person who willfully fails to pay or deliver property to the State Treasurer as required under the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act may be required to pay a civil penalty equal to twenty-five percent (25%) of the value of the property that should have been paid or delivered.
D. A person who willfully refuses after written demand by the State Treasurer to pay or deliver property to the State Treasurer as required under the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act is guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction may be punished by a fine of not less than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) nor more than Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00), or imprisonment for not more than six (6) months, or both.
E. The interest or penalty or any portion thereof, as imposed by subsection A, B or C of this section, may be waived or remitted by the State Treasurer if the person’s failure to pay abandoned funds or deliver property is satisfactorily explained to the State Treasurer or if such failure has resulted from a mistake by the person of either the law or the facts subjecting that person to pay abandoned funds or deliver property subject to the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act, or inability to pay such interest or penalty resulting from insolvency. The State Treasurer shall promulgate rules in accordance with the Administrative Procedures Act requiring the identification and recording of those circumstances under which interest or penalty, as imposed by subsection A, B, or C of this section, may be waived. The State Treasurer may also authorize amnesty programs to promote voluntary compliance with the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act, and may participate and cooperate with other state administrators of abandoned or unclaimed property programs in nationwide amnesty programs. For purposes of this section, amnesty programs are programs in which potential holders of unclaimed property are granted waivers of interest and civil penalties if they voluntarily begin to comply with the reporting requirements of the state’s unclaimed property laws.
Added by Laws 1967, c. 107, § 30, emerg. eff. April 24, 1967. Amended by Laws 1982, c. 278, § 9, eff. Jan. 1, 1983; Laws 1989, c. 244, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 1989; Laws 1991, c. 331, § 37, eff. Sept. 1, 1991; Laws 1999, c. 10, § 29, eff. July 1, 1999; Laws 2000, c. 136, § 7, eff. July 1, 2000; Laws 2004, c. 318, § 9, eff. July 1, 2004.