(AP) -- DETROIT (AP) - It won't do much to whittle the deficit, but Michigan is returning $54,000 to the federal treasury. The money was mistakenly sent to a bank account that belonged to James Sampson, a veteran who died in 1995. For more than six years, the Department of Veterans Affairs deposited monthly payments, unaware that Sampson had died. Bank One eventually closed the account and sent the money to the state of Michigan, which is the custodian of lost or forgotten assets.
The U.S. government filed a lawsuit last summer to reclaim the money. A federal judge closed the case Wednesday after Michigan agreed the money belonged to Washington.
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