A major utility company has failed to cooperate with an unclaimed property audit, Pennsylvania Treasurer Joe Torsella announced Friday.

Torsella filed a complaint in Commonwealth Court alleging PPL Corporation refused to produce unredacted documents and insisted on a limited visual inspection of thousands and thousands of records. PPL’s actions, he added, prevented Treasury auditors from doing their necessary work to ensure compliance with the Pennsylvania Disposition of Abandoned and Unclaimed Property Act.

“Pennsylvania’s unclaimed property law exists to protect Pennsylvania consumers and their rightful property,” said Torsella. “For the first time in 10 years, Treasury is forced to take legal action in order to compel a Pennsylvania company to comply with its obligations. That’s unacceptable, and PPL’s customers and stockholders who are entitled to property deserve better.”

The Pennsylvania Treasury can issue an administrative subpoena when a company refuses to produce requested documentation for a compliance audit. PPL, however, objected to the subpoena.

The Treasury currently serves as the custodian of $3.4 billion in unclaimed property, reported to the Bureau of Unclaimed Property through abandoned bank accounts, forgotten stocks, and uncashed checks.

Under Pennsylvania law, entities are required to report any financial asset that has gone unclaimed for a period of time, usually three years.

According to Torsella, PPL is a significant reporter of unclaimed property, having reported hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Treasury in recent years.

“By frustrating the ongoing audit, PPL is preventing the return of unclaimed property to its rightful owners in Pennsylvania,” according to a Treasury press release.