District Court Rules on Stranger-Initiated Annuity Transactions

Originally published June 4, 2010

On June 2, 2010, the U.S. District Court in Rhode Island ruled on motions to dismiss in a series of cases brought by insurers arising out of stranger-initiated annuity transactions. See Western Reserve Life Assurance Co. of Ohio v. Conreal LLC, et al., C.A. No. 09-470 (D.R.I. 2010). The court dismissed the insurers' rescission claims against the investor-owners of the annuities, but allowed fraud and certain other claims to proceed against other defendants involved in the sales of the annuities.

The stranger-initiated annuity transaction (STAT) scheme was described by the court as follows, based on the allegations of the complaint:

• The defendants who sponsored the STAT scheme solicited terminally ill individuals and paid them to sign applications for variable annuities.