Question:

How can I get a message to the residents of Ohio that the DOI & legal system have allowed illegal activity?

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My Mother was churned out of hundreds of thousands of dollars by two insurance agents.

She had a stroke and was unable to communicate. I had to become involved in her finances. I consulted a friend who is a financial planner. He looked at the documents I had gathered and told me to go to the state to report what he saw as gross churning.

The state representative at the DOI looked at what I had, told me there was wrongdoing and told me to file a complaint for each company involved. There were 10 different companies, but the same two agents, who were related. He told me the exact words to use on the complaint form, "A pattern of churning has been established".

After the complaints were filed and the investigation was complete, the department mailed me letters for each company stating they had investigated and found no wrong doing.

We sued. We had expert witnesses that said it was the worst case of churning they had ever seen.

In discovery, we obtained copies of interoffice memos from one company. A woman had written a complaint to that company with a story of what one of the agents had done to her. The final memo stated, "He is churning business. Fire him and tell legal to report to the state of Ohio that he was fired for violation of (the # of a particular regulation)".

We had a copy of a letter the representative I dealt with at the DOI wrote to one of the companies and stated the agent had violated Ohio regulations.

This agent was fired from 4 companies that we knew of and one of the companies sued him.

We had names of two other widows, in addition to the woman who wrote the complaint in the interoffice memos.

One of them had filed a complaint with the state, and one whose son called me after seeing the notice of the lawsuit in the local newspaper. He said he has suspected for years the agent was doing this to his widowed mother, but she refused to discuss it with him.

Despite all of the overwhelming evidence, this was in the courts for 5 years. There were 4 judges who were dismissed or recused themselves for different reasons.

One week before the trial was scheduled, the final judge granted summary judgment to the defendants citing statute of limitations.

We appealed at the district and the state and both denied the appeal.

I have a hard time believing this happened in this country. If this was a weak case, I could understand. But there was overwhelming evidence of wrongdoing.

I know I can never prove it, but I will never be convinced that people weren't bribed or threatened. There were a couple of large corporations involved and I also think this would have been a huge embarrassment for the state.

One of the agents retired and the other one is still licensed and selling in Ohio. I'm certain he is still defrauding innocent people. He got away with illegal activities and why should he change?

I have contacted TV stations, newspapers and no one wants to report this. I have sent copies of documentation to verify my story.

What I want to do is alert other citizens in Ohio, or anywhere else for that matter, to be on top of their financial transactions, and especially to look out for their elderly parents who are so easy to prey on. They need to know that the state is not protecting their interests.

Does anyone have any ideas as to how I can get this story to the public?

Thank you.

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5 ANSWERS


  1. It might sound silly, but turn to Youtube. More public will see that than any sign or small advertisement.

    Youtube has been proven to be a thorn in the paw of many large corporations. It might not save your particular case, but it could help prevent further mistreatment of individuals by those particular agents and companies.

    Post a video, disguise yourself if need be, and give facts. Promote it and post it on various law forums, activist sites, blogs and consumer websites.

    I'm sorry for your troubles and I hate to see this stuff happening to people that have worked hard their entire lives only to be ripped off. This country is far too lax when it comes to punishing the punishable. It's easier to let the little guys take the brunt of the wrongdoings.

    Good luck.


  2. You can always rent a billboard!

    Your case is REALLY against your attorney, who did not get this to court in a timely matter.  He's got errors and ommissions coverage, most likely.  

    You can also sue the agents directly ( you don't state if you sued the company or the agent), and hope that their errors and ommissions will pay something.  

    By you, of course I mean your mother, or her legal guardian.

    This highlights why, exactly, it's important to keep track of our elderly relatives, and help them with financial issues when they start failing.  AND, why, if you are elderly, you should let a younger, trusted family member help you out, or even have a financial power of attorney.


  3. Unfortunately, since the statute of limitations expired, it sounds like there wasn't a whole lot else that could be done by the judge.

    If the statute of limitations expired, it doesn't matter what kind of evidence there is - the judge can't really do anything about it.

    But my question is...why did it take so long to get to trial?  Was there wrongdoing or neglect by your attorney?  (I see you wrote that some judges recused themselves, but it still seems like that shouldn't have gotten you to the point where the statute of limitations expired unless the attorney dropped the ball somewhere.)

    As far as publicizing the case...you could always harness the power of the internet.  Write up a blog and publicize the blog.  Make sure the info is out there for anyone who wants to look for it.  Other people might even send you similar stories.  (Or, you could also search to see if such a blog or consumer complaint website already exists and get them to link your story.)

  4. You can put them up on www.ripoffreport.com

    Contact your Attorney General for your state or the city controller.  DOI should have done something and taken their licenses away.

    Also, try www.rottenneighbor.com   try U-Tube and other sources to post on. and the better business bureau.

  5. Set up a website or blog (both can be free)

    --But be real careful that anything you post can be backed up --Don't want to be liable for slander  

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