Former Life Settlement Exec Sues Over Commissions

By Trevor Thomas

October 04, 2010 at 08:00 PM

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A life settlement industry veteran is suing a former employer in connection with allegations that the employer failed to pay him commissions on a $200 million investment he says he brought to the firm.

Mark Engelhardt, former chief executive of Life Policy Group L.L.C. (LPGL), New York, says LPGL fired him in August because the company did not want to pay commissions on the investment.

In court papers filed with the Supreme Court of the State of New York in Manhattan, Engelhardt is seeking about $6.5 million in commissions plus interest from Transworld Investment Group P.L.C., Cayman Islands; Michael Abraham, controlling shareholder of Transworld; and four Transworld subsidiaries, including LPGL.

Engelhardt, now an executive director at Wyatt Partners, Berkeley Heights, N.J., filed the lawsuit Aug. 25.

In the complaint, Engelhardt charges the defendants with violating state labor laws, breaching his employment contract and unjust enrichment.

Engelhardt also is seeking an injunction barring any of the companies from withdrawing assets from New York in anticipation of a judgment favoring Engelhardt. The court, however, rejected that motion Aug. 30.

In court papers filed by attorneys David Paris and Ross Schmierer, Engelhardt says Abraham, a British resident, sought to withhold commissions Engelhardt had earned on a $200 million investment from E. Elias Capital, London, to buy life insurance policies in the secondary market.

Engelhardt says Abraham owed him at least $6.5 million on the Elias deal.

Abraham's attorney, Kenneth Pasquale of Strook & Strook & Lavan L.L.P., New York, says he plans to make a motion to the court to dismiss the complaint as unfounded.

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