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New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. today thanked Christopher Sewell for finding New York City close to a half-million dollars in unclaimed funds. Additionally, Mr. Sewell's discovery uncovered more than $160,000 in unclaimed funds for five public benefit corporations.

"In these challenging fiscal times, it is encouraging to know that there are people out there who genuinely want to help New York City," Comptroller Thompson said. "I commend Mr. Sewell for his ingenuity in helping the City reclaim these funds, and encourage others to continually seek innovative ways to help our City during this time of need."

In April 2002, Mr. Sewell wrote to Mayor Bloomberg and turned over 350 claim forms he found listed by the Unclaimed Funds Department on the New York State Comptroller's website. The Mayor passed along the information to Comptroller Thompson's Office, which worked with the State Comptroller's Office to confirm the validity of the claims. In January 2003, the State Comptroller's Office wrote a check to the City totaling $450,519.

"This has become a hobby for me. Instead of knitting, I find money to give away," says the 44 year-old who was born in Queens and now lives in Suffolk County. "There's always been a part of me that wants to shed light on darkness rather than curse it."

Many of the City's unclaimed funds relate to imprest funds or other bank accounts maintained by various City agencies. In many cases, outstanding checks for small dollar amounts from these accounts were included in the claims. The unclaimed funds also were comprised of old account balances, utility deposits and security deposits.

Additionally, Mr. Sewell's efforts helped to uncover $160,421 in unclaimed funds for five public benefit corporations. The corporations that will benefit from this finding are: the New York City School Construction Authority, the New York City Housing Authority, the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation, the New York City Water Board, and the New York City Transit Authority. The Comptroller's Office has notified all of the entities about the discovery.

"It pays to be creative," Thompson said. "It may not seem like a lot of money, but a half-million dollars can save jobs, buy school books for our children, improve our parks, or even help feed the City's homeless community. Every dollar counts."

The checks were deposited into the City's General Fund and will be applied to Fiscal Year 2003 as miscellaneous revenue.

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