Tag: lawsuits

A Fraud-Filled 2022: Scammers and Lawsuits Fill the News

Mary Pat Campbell

Link:c https://www.thewealthadvisor.com/article/fraud-filled-2022-scammers-and-lawsuits-fill-news?mkt_tok=NDQ2LVVIUy0wMTMAAAGJIsrFu-ubnD_VamPIV5gs8dCoXVSfoUS6DR0oZTPmBTOiB6nIRrBML9aoxKGy2CiDh81BoEvZ4_6Zt5a-_GheqnYSTKutsKMFiWq7IQ8F55-O

Graphic:

Excerpt:

LIMRA discussed its FraudShare program in this June 2022 story, and the statistics were striking.

More than a third (34%) of companies reported increases in account takeover attempts in 2021 as compared to the previous year, according to LIMRA. Account takeovers occur when someone takes ownership of an online account without the owner’s knowledge, often with stolen credentials. In addition to account takeovers attempts, 34% of companies saw increases in company impersonation and 31% had increases in claims fraud.

A LIMRA report showed that fraud incidents increased in 2021 in all but two categories of fraud. (Please note that fraud “incidents” shown in the chart below are attempts and do not indicate that the account takeover attempts were successful.)

Author(s): John Hilton, InsuranceNewsNet

Publication Date: 30 Dec 2022

Publication Site: The Wealth Advisor

Pension Plan Actuarial Assumption Litigation: The End is Not Yet in Sight

Mary Pat Campbell

Link:https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/pension-plan-actuarial-assumption-5162449/

Excerpt:

One recent line of ERISA litigation involves the actuarial equivalence factors used by defined benefit pension plans.  The lawsuits apply both to active defined benefit pension plans and pension plans that have been “frozen” as to future benefit accruals.

….

Basically, the lawsuits allege that the plan, through the use of out-of-date and “unreasonable” actuarial assumptions and conversion factors, has “overcharged” participants when converting from the Life Annuity Benefit to payment in an alternate payment form. 

….

In many of the cases, the challenge focuses on allegedly outdated mortality tables that do not take improved life expectancy into account.  In some situations, the actuarial factors (including mortality table assumption) were established decades ago and have never been updated.  In essence, the lawsuits allege that the plan (by not using updated factors and tables) is not paying out the full value of the participant’s benefit when the participant has elected payment in an alternate payment form.

Author(s): Gregg Dooge

Publication Date: 20 Jan 2022

Publication Site: JD Supra

The GameStop Woes Keep Plaguing Melvin Capital

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.ai-cio.com/news/gamestop-woes-keep-plaguing-melvin-capital/

Excerpt:

Melvin Capital is facing a wave of lawsuits from plaintiffs who allege that the hedge fund tangled up in the GameStop debacle has conspired to restrict trading for retail investors, causing them to lose money. 

The investment firm founded by Gabriel Plotkin disclosed nine legal complaints in its most recent ADV filing, which social media investors on Reddit gleefully discussed at length this week. The complaints were first reported by Institutional Investor.

The suits accuse Melvin Capital and other market leaders of colluding to restrict retail trading in January, when a freeze on individual accounts trading shares of GameStop, AMC, and other so-called “meme” stocks had retail investors and regulators crying foul play. 

Author(s): Sarah Min

Publication Date: 24 March 2021

Publication Site: ai-CIO

“They Can’t Hold The Nursing Homes Responsible”

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.dailyposter.com/p/they-cant-hold-the-nursing-homes

Excerpt:

Attorneys insist nursing home negligence cases are not designed to target nursing home employees and other frontline workers caring for facility residents during the pandemic. As Mosher notes, “In most cases, these people are just as much victims as the residents.” 

Instead, the lawsuits are going after nursing home owners and operators, a population that has become increasingly dominated by private equity firms, shell companies, and other secretive for-profit operations, which make staffing and other decisions about quality of care in boardrooms and corporate offices far removed from those who are impacted.

The results of these cases are not about simply scoring million-dollar settlements and padding lawyers’ pockets, say legal experts. Torts and class action suits are an important deterrent to bad behaviors in an industry that has become known for lax oversight. 

Author(s): Joel Warner

Publication Date: 2 March 2021

Publication Site: The Daily Poster

Protection from COVID-19 lawsuits in the works for Illinois businesses

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.thecentersquare.com/illinois/protection-from-covid-19-lawsuits-in-the-works-for-illinois-businesses/article_436193cc-7877-11eb-96e9-bbda0809a9b2.html#new_tab

Excerpt:

Protection from COVID-19 related lawsuits may be on the way for Illinois businesses through House Bill 3003.

Known as the COVID-19 Liability Act, the legislation was filed in the House of Representatives on Feb. 18. If passed, the bill would offer protection to businesses from people claiming they were infected at a business and therefore the business is liable for medical costs, pain and suffering or more.

Clark Kaericher, vice president of Government Affairs at the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, says so far, there have been two crises proceeding from the coronavirus: a public health crisis and an economic crisis.

Author(s): Elyse Kelly

Publication Date: 27 February 2021

Publication Site: The Center Square