California Controller Accused of Faking Investor Addresses to Seize Foreign Stock
A federal filing alleges Controller Malia Cohen and contractors altered foreign investors' addresses to claim and sell their stock under California's unclaimed-property program.
In a federal court filing, plaintiffs allege that California Controller Malia Cohen and contractors Kroll LLC and Kelmar Associates LLC manipulated the addresses of foreign investors to bring their holdings under the state’s $15 billion unclaimed-property program. By replacing overseas addresses with "CA 00000" or "CARDIFF, CA 00000," the state could claim and liquidate assets such as a Brazilian investor’s $708,641.22 of Google retirement stock and a British investor’s shares, the latter yielding only $4,750 after a 17-month wait.
The suit argues the practice violates the purpose of the unclaimed-property law, which requires proper notice before seizure. Plaintiffs request a preliminary order halting further takings pending trial, scheduled for Jan. 21 2027 before Judge George H. Wu. The controller’s office has not commented, while a Republican controller candidate has criticized Cohen’s handling of the program.
Why it matters
It raises concerns that state officials may be abusing unclaimed-property laws to profit from foreign investors’ assets.
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