AmerUs Group Company is fighting back against a lawsuit filed by California regulators.[@@]
The suit, filed by California Attorney General Bill Lockyer and California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi, deals with strategies that 2 marketing organizations, an AmerUs insurance subsidiary and several individuals allegedly used to sell annuities to older consumers.
California regulators allege in a complaint filed in a state court in Los Angeles that the defendants arranged estate-planning meetings with older consumers to persuade the consumers to replace existing annuities with new, unsuitable annuities.
Regulators are seeking about $110 million in restitution, penalties and damages.