State holding 'Whitey' Bulger's abandoned funds

(US Attorney's Office Photos)

Investigators altered these photos to give an idea of what Bulger might look like now.

By Martin Finucane, Globe Staff

Periodically, the state treasurer mounts a campaign to return money from sources such as abandoned bank accounts, stock accounts, and safe deposit boxes to owners who have, for some reason, forgotten them.

Step right up and claim your money, the treasurer's office proclaims.

But there is one South Boston man on the treasurer's abandoned property list who won't likely be claiming his money any time soon: James J. "Whitey" Bulger, the fugitive gangster who has eluded an international manhunt for more than a dozen years.

The treasurer's office said today that about $4,000 from a Bulger account is being held by its Abandoned Property Division. Most of the money was turned over to the state about 10 years ago by a Jacksonville, Fla. bank.

"If there is any further activity related to the accounts in question, the appropriate authorities will be notified," the division said in a statement.

The division also noted that people are free to claim their property "unless legal action is pending against that person."

FBI spokeswoman Gail Marcinkiewicz said the agency didn't have any comment. A spokeswoman from the US Attorney's office also declined to comment.

Bulger vanished just before his January 1995 federal racketeering indictment. He has since been charged with 19 murders and exposed as an FBI informant who gave up information about local Mafia leaders while committing crimes himself. A multi-agency task force of seven investigators is looking for him around the world.

The 78-year-old Bulger is one of the FBI's "Ten Most Wanted" fugitives, a group that also includes Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden. Bulger is believed to be traveling with his girlfriend, Catherine Elizabeth Greig.

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