Holocaust survivor Roman Blum leaves behind $40 million estate but no heirs to the fortune
A teller displays $100 notes at a moneychanger in Jakarta on May 30, 2012.
New York State could receive a $40 million windfall after a Holocaust survivor and successful real estate developer died without leaving a will.
The strange case of Roman Blum, who passed away in January 2012 at the age of 97, was revealed in The New York Times.
Blum of Staten Island left behind no heirs to claim his estate worth an estimated $40 million – his ex-wife died in 1992 and the couple had no children, the Times explained.
Authorities have searched the planet for surviving relatives, but to no avail.
Under the law, Blum’s fortune will go to the state after three years if no one has come forward to claim the money.
“He was a very smart man but he died like an idiot,” Paul Skurka, a fellow Holocaust survivor and friend, told the Times.
According to Forbes, Blum is not alone.
Nearly 2.5 million Americans died in 2012 and many neglected to leave behind a will.
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