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TAG | florida life insurance fraud

May/11

20

Susan Mae Karn Fined and Suspended by FINRA

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Susan Mae Karn (CRD #5218398, Registered Representative, Wimbledon, North Dakota)

submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent in which she was fined $5,000 and suspended from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for six months. The fine must be paid either immediately upon Karn’s reassociation with a FINRA member firm following her suspension, or prior to the filing of any application or request for relief from any statutory disqualification, whichever is earlier. Without admitting or denying the findings, Karn consented to the described sanctions and to the entry of findings that she allowed a customer to sign relatives’ names on life insurance applications, and before Karn submitted them for processing, she signed the insurance applications and certified that she had witnessed each of the proposed signatures on the insurance applications. The findings stated that Karn falsely certified on the Representative’s Information Supplement document for each insurance application that she had personally seen each proposed insured at the time the application was completed. The findings also stated that one of Karn’s clients completed an application to purchase a municipal bond fund by signing her name on an electronic signature pad, and later that same day, Karn signed the client’s name on the electronic signature pad and thereby affixed the client’s signature on an application without the client’s authorization, consent or knowledge.

The FINRA findings also included that the application Karn’s member firm processed and sent to the client reflected the signature Karn had affixed rather than the client’s authentic signature. FINRA found that when the firm questioned Karn about the authenticity of the client’s signature, Karn initially stated it was the client’s original signature, but when questioned further, admitted she had signed the client’s name and in doing so, Karn misled her firm during its internal investigation into a customer complaint.

The suspension is in effect from March 7, 2011, through September 6, 2011. (FINRA Case #2010022067901)

This information was obtained on FINRA’s website.

If you or a family member have become  victims of the alleged fraudulent schemes of Susan Mae Karn, or have experienced a similar situation, call a Securities Arbitration Lawyer for a free consultation on how you could potentially recover you losses.  To speak with an attorney, call 888-760-6552, or visit www.stockmarketlawsuit.com.

Soreide Law Group, PLLC., representing investors nationwide before FINRA  the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

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May/11

19

Lawyer Pleads Guilty in Major Insurance Fraud Case

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In a May 18th., 2011 article in the Miami Herald,  Jay Weaver reports that a prominent attorney whose fortune rose with a Fort Lauderdale viatical insurance company at the center of a $1.25 billion investment fraud case pleaded guilty Wednesday to a single conspiracy charge, marking a major development in the long-running prosecution of executives and others at Mutual Benefits Corp.

Fort Lauderdale attorney Michael McNerney, 62, admitted that as its lawyer, he helped the now-defunct company lure thousands of investors worldwide into buying dubious life insurance policies held mostly in the names of people dying of AIDS.

Weaver goes on to say that McNerney’s role was part of an alleged investment scam lasting from 1995 to 2004 that authorities say rivals the $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme of disbarred Fort Lauderdale lawyer Scott Rothstein, convicted last year of selling fabricated legal settlements in a separate criminal case. The Mutual Benefits and Rothstein cases rank as Florida’s largest fraud prosecutions.

The McNerney guilty plea to mail-and-wire fraud conspiracy, which carries up to five years in prison, marks the 10th person to be convicted in the Mutual Benefits prosecution in Miami federal court. He will be sentenced Aug. 26 before U.S. District Judge Adalberto Jordan. With his plea, McNerney avoided a potential sentence of up to 20 years. As part of his deal, McNerney will cooperate with prosecutors on how the alleged life settlement racket was directed by Mutual Benefit’s senior executives

The Miami Hearld reports that the two top executives of the company, Joel Steinger and brother Steven Steiner, along with another Fort Lauderdale lawyer Anthony Livoti, are scheduled to stand trial in early 2013 — but that date could be moved up with McNerney’s plea. He was scheduled to go to trial by himself early next year. Steinger and Steiner were planning on using a defense based on their reliance on McNerney’s legal counsel for all their business decisions regarding Mutual Benefits’ sale of some 30,000 viatical insurance policies to investors who lost about $837 million. But that defense may be in danger now that he has pleaded guilty to being a player in the alleged conspiracy.

It was reported that McNerney, a 1973 graduate of the University of Florida College of Law, admitted that he not only encouraged investors to buy the questionable viatical policies, but he also provided “legal cover” for Steinger and others to perpetuate the alleged fraud, according to a “factual statement” filed with his plea agreement.

Wednesday, McNerney confessed that he schemed with other executives at Mutual Benefits by misleading investors about the life expectancy of insured beneficiaries; the use of funds raised from investors; the risks associated with the investments in viatical settlements; and the payments of insurance premiums on those policies.

“This is a major breakthrough in the prosecution’s case because it shows the defendants were not relying on the advice of an independent attorney,” said Ryan O’Quinn, a former federal prosecutor and Securities and Exchange Commission attorney, who had been involved in the case since 2004. “It shows Michael McNerney was a knowing participant in the fraud, standing side by side with the co-defendants.”

The Herald article goes on to say that in January 2009, the U.S. attorney’s office unsealed the sweeping 25-count fraud indictment against Steinger, identified as Mutual Benefits’ principal executive, brother Steiner, the company’s founder, as well as McNerney and Livoti. The indictment, alleging a conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering, was filed nearly five years after state and federal regulators shut down Mutual Benefits. The company was placed in receivership.

The company, Mutual Benefits, bought life insurance policies of AIDS patients and the elderly and sold the policies to investors, who stood to collect benefits when the insured died. Mutual Benefits promised investors the investments were “safe.” But prosecutors alleged Steinger hired doctors to attest to life expectancies for the insured. By claiming the beneficiaries were near death, prosecutors alleged, Mutual Benefits could sell low-value policies at a higher price. But the longer the insured lived, the more premium payments had to be made to prevent the policy from lapsing and becoming worthless.

According to Jay Weaver of the Miami Herald, prosecutors further alleged that Mutual Benefits was a massive Ponzi scheme, using money from newer investors to pay premium obligations on older policies.

If you or a family member have purchased policies through Mutual Benefits, Corp, or other viatical companies, and become the victim of the life-expectancy predicitons, contact an insurance fraud attorney for a free consultation on how to recover your investment losses.  To speak with an attorney, call 888-760-6552, or visit stockmarketlawsuit.com. 

We stand up and fight for the rights of consumers. Soreide Law Group, PLLC, representing Insurance Fraud Victims in Federal Court, State Court and before the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”).

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Apr/11

21

SEC Investigating Life Partner Holdings, Inc. Viaticals

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In a recent article from the Wall Street Journal we learn that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is investigating Life Partners Holdings Inc., a Waco, Texas, company that has arranged for investors to buy several billion dollars of life-insurance policies from their original owners, according to people who have been contacted recently by the agency.

The SEC’s enforcement division has been seeking experts to analyze the way Life Partners has estimated the life expectancies of the insured individuals, these people say. The estimates—projections of how long the people might have to live—are a crucial part of the investment equation.

The shorter an insured person’s expected life span, the more Life Partners generally can charge for that policy, because investors expect a faster payout. If the death comes later than anticipated, not only is the policy payout delayed, but investors who buy policies or parts of them must continue to pay premium bills while they wait to collect on a death benefit.

Questions about the accuracy of Life Partners’ life-expectancy estimates were the focus of a December Page One article in The Wall Street Journal. The article reported that many of the insured people are living well beyond the company’s estimates, suggesting that the 10% or 15% yearly returns promoted to Life Partners’ investor clients may prove elusive for many.

The article says that attractive projected returns for clients are a key part of Life Partners’ formula for success. One of the fastest-growing small companies in the U.S. in recent years, Life Partners reported earnings of $29.4 million on $113 million of revenue for its fiscal year ended Feb. 28, 2010.

Life Partners says it has sold 6,400 policies with a face value of $2.8 billion to 27,000 clients since its 1991 founding. Life Partners extracts often-hefty fees in the deals, averaging $308,000 apiece for the 201 policies sold in its most recent fiscal year. Investors often buy pieces of multiple policies.

The Journal article goes on to say that based on data Life Partners filed with the Texas Department of Insurance, the Journal found that, for policies sold from 2002 through 2005, insured people outlived Life Partners’ projections about 90% of the time.

If you or a family member have purchased policies through Life Partners Holdings, Inc. and become a victim of the life-expectancy predicitons, call a Securities Arbitration Lawyer for a free consultation on how to recover your investment losses.  To speak with an attorney, call 888-760-6552, or visit www.stockmarketlawsuit.com. Soreide Law Group, PLLC., representing investors nationwide before FINRA  the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

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