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Just-Finished Oklahoma City Fair Found More Than $400,000 for Fair Goers

Having just found more than $400,000 for Oklahoma City fair attendees, State Treasurer Scott Meacham is heading up the turnpike to help people at the Tulsa State Fair find their ''Pot of Gold.''

Meacham, administrator of Oklahoma's Unclaimed Property Fund, is holding $260 million for 350,000 Oklahomans.

''If you plan on attending the Tulsa State Fair, you should come to our booth,'' Meacham said. ''Most people say, 'I haven't lost any money,' but we have the names of 350,000 people who think the same thing!''

At the just-completed Oklahoma State Fair, Meacham and his staff found $402,000 for some 500 fair patrons. In the past eight years, almost $1.9 million has been found for more than 5,600 Oklahoma City fair attendees.

This will be the fourth year Meacham and his staff have operated the ''Pot of Gold'' booth in the Expo Building at the Tulsa State Fair. Workers with laptop computers will lookup names on the unclaimed property list. During the past three years, more than $960,000 has been found for more than 1,700 Tulsa fair patrons.

Unclaimed property includes bank accounts, security deposits, old paychecks, overpayments, royalties, rebates, stock and bonds. Safe deposit box contents are also included.

The money and property are brought to the treasurer's office when the businesses holding them lose track of the owners. Meacham then publishes the names in state newspapers, operates an online searchable database at www.treasurer.ok.gov and conducts other outreach -- such as booths at the two state fairs -- to find the owners.

The Unclaimed Property booth in the Expo Building will be open throughout the fair, September 25 to October 5.