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Article originally appeared on InsuranceNewsNet by Cyril Tuohy.
A U.S. appeals court in California has ruled in favor of EquiTrust, which was alleged to have violated federal and state laws in the sale of an index annuity, after the court found the carrier and the annuity had delivered on the contract’s promise.
In the case, Harrington v. EquiTrust Life Insurance Co., the plaintiffs Mary Helen Eller and Paul Harrington sued Equitrust on the grounds that marketing material used in the sale of the EquiTrust MarketPower Bonus Index Annuity amounted to mail and wire fraud.
Harrington argued that premium bonus promises, the annuity’s market value adjustment and the circumvention of state non-forfeiture contained in marketing documents and the annuity contract was a violation of the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) and Arizona state laws.
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