Connecticut Resident Sentenced to Nine Months’ Imprisonment For Fraudulently Obtaining $1.2 Million In Unclaimed Property

HARRISBURG - The United States Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Patricia A. White, age 70, resident of Old Greenwich, Connecticut, was sentenced on April 27, 2026, to nine months' imprisonment by United States District Judge Karoline Mehalchick for submitting false and fraudulent claims for unclaimed property to state treasuries. White was also ordered to pay $1,208,271.40 in restitution to approximately 30 state treasuries.

According to United States Attorney Brian D. Miller, White, along with her brother and codefendant, Henry A. White, Jr., together received over $1.2 million in false and fraudulent claims for unclaimed property from state treasuries around the United States. Henry White using the names of corporate entities with which he was not affiliated and which he had no lawful authority to use, applied for and received unclaimed property from state treasuries throughout the United States. The scheme took place over the course of approximately ten years, from 2013 until around 2022. State treasuries, relying on the certifications provided by Henry White under penalty of perjury, issued payment checks, which were generally sent by U.S. mail to the shared home address of both defendants.

From there, the Whites deposited and cashed these fraudulently obtained payment checks into a joint bank account, and they used these funds for personal expenses, including for mortgage payments for their shared home in Connecticut. At the time of her guilty plea, Patricia White admitted to personally depositing some of these fraudulently obtained checks.

Henry White was sentenced on December 17, 2025 to 37 months in prison and was ordered to pay the same restitution amount as Patricia White.

Patricia White will surrender herself to the Bureau of Prisons on May 8, 2026.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ravi Romel Sharma prosecuted the case.

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