Ex-Bankers Life agents barred in Missouri
February 8, 2011 by N/A
St. Louis Business Journal
Date: Monday, February 7, 2011, 9:53am CST
Two former Bankers Life and Casualty Co. agents have been prohibited from working in the Missouri securities industry for five years following activities that led to $574,000 in lost savings for more than 100 Missourians, Secretary of State Robin Carnahan said Monday.
James Otto, of Overland Park, Kan., under the management of Michael Lees, provided brokerage services for customers of Chicago-based Bankers Life and gave them advice on how to manage their securities investments held at other firms, according to the consent orders. Otto liquidated more than $7 million in securities investments from 180 customer accounts, regulators said. Otto and other agents then moved most of these funds into fixed or equity indexed annuities sold by Bankers Life that earned Otto and his coworkers commissions, according to Carnahan’s office.
Otto was not registered to sell securities or give investment advice, as required by Missouri law, regulators said. Both Otto and Lees have been prohibited from registering as a broker or investment adviser representative in Missouri for five years.
These new consent orders are related to a July 2010 cease and desist order issued against Otto and Lees. That same month their former employer, Bankers Life, agreed to reimburse the impacted investors by returning the $574,000 that was lost.
The Missouri Securities Division said it continues to investigate the discount brokerage firms that opened dozens of accounts for Otto’s liquidation purposes.
