High court upholds insurance penalties

The Montana Supreme Court has upheld an $80,000 fine against a Troy insurance agent for defrauding two elderly women.

Penalties imposed on former Bankers Life and Casualty Co. agent Martin O. Bower were affirmed by the high court, according to a news release from Commissioner of Securities and Insurance Monica Lindeen.

The Commissioner’s Office had fined Bower $80,000 for violating the Montana Securities Act and banned him from becoming licensed to sell insurance for five years. It also prohibited Bower from seeking any securities registration or licensure.

The state order previously had been appealed in Flathead District Court, but the sanctions against Bower were upheld by District Judge Ted Lympus a year ago.

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.

The Supreme Court upheld an order by a hearing examiner and the District Court decision that Bower had violated securities and insurance laws.

The hearing examiner concluded that “Bower had ‘used fraudulent and coercive tactics, was untrustworthy, financially irresponsible, and a source of injury’ and that Bower had committed numerous acts of fraud.”

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.

Bower also attempted to sell an annuity product to a Libby family seeking health insurance, according to Lindeen’s press release.

The family gave conditional permission to purchase the product and asked Bower to hold the check for a few days while they further considered the purchase.

Bower cashed the check immediately and refused to refund the money when they opted out of the purchase.

“Mr. Bower committed a serious infraction of the law; a law that protects consumers and reputable agents in the industry,” Lindeen said.