Fine, ban upheld for insurance agent

The Daily Inter Lake

An $80,000 fine against a Troy insurance agent for defrauding two elderly women has been upheld in court.

District Judge Ted Lympus affirmed sanctions against former Bankers Life and Casualty Company agent Martin O. Bower, according to a news release from the State Auditor's Office.

In October 2007, the Auditor's Office fined Bower $80,000 and banned him from selling insurance for five years.

Bower also is banned from seeking any securities registration or licensure, according to State Auditor Monica Lindeen.

Bower attempted to convince one of the victims, an Alzheimer's patient living in Ronan, to liquidate her securities to purchase a fixed-index annuity from him.

A second victim in a Kalispell nursing home told investigators Bower attempted to gain control over her Glacier Bancorp Inc. stock certificates in an effort to sell her an insurance product, again a fixed annuity.

Criminal charges in the case were dropped after one woman called to testify at trial couldn't remember what transpired and the family of the other woman didn't want her to be subjected to an all-day psychiatric exam to meet a defense request seeking to confirm the Alzheimer's diagnosis.

Bower appealed the auditor's decision a year ago, saying the evidence did not support the auditor's order.

However, Lympus indicated that "a review of the record establishes' there was 'substantial evidence" to find Bower had committed securities fraud and violated the Montana Insurance Code.

"This is a case of an insurance agent giving investment advice without being licensed," Lynne Egan, Montana deputy securities commissioner, said in the press release.

"While many individuals are licensed to sell both securities and insurance products, investors should contact the State Auditor's Office if someone is trying to convince them to sell an investment to fund an insurance product, or vice versa, and verify that the person is properly licensed and trained in both fields."

Lindeen said modern-day financial fraud artists most often prey upon unsuspecting senior citizens and fleece them out of their life savings or retirement nest eggs.

"The best defense against fraud is education," Lindeen said. "I encourage victims to contact our office. They can help prevent other Montanans from becoming victims."

The Securities Fraud Hotline at the State Auditor's Office is 1-800-332-6148.