Butte County court gives $4.3M for elder financial abuse

A Butte County jury awarded over $3 million to an elderly man it found an insurance company had scammed into spending $100,000 on an annuity policy.

"National Western Life Insurance is, by all appearances, an incorrigible scofflaw which uses 22,000 'independent' agents to sell its annuity products without any due regard to the agent's business practices," the plaintiff's attorney, Frank J. Fox of San Diego-based law firm Majors & Fox LLP, said in a statement. On Nov. 13, Superior Court Judge Tamara L. Mosbarger added attorney fees and costs to the jury's April 19 verdict for a total award of $4.3 million against the insurance company, which has been the subject of prior legal action in California. Barney Thomas Williams v. Victor S. Pantaleoni et al.., 17CV03462, (Butte County Sup. Ct. filed Dec. 4, 2017).

The California Insurance Commissioner sued the company in 2006 over allegations its agents sold annuities under the auspices of providing legal advice and estate planning options.

According to the complaint, the Western Life agent who sold plaintiff Thomas Williams, 79, the annuity was working under a restricted license and had also been prosecuted under the state insurance code.

According to a statement released by Majors & Fox LLP., two authorities on elder financial abuse submitted declarations to the court in support of the firm's motion for attorney fees, arguing the industry rakes in billions each year from individuals often incapable of vetting financial scams.

-- Carter Stoddard