Companies Consent to Illegally Offering $830K in Unregistered Life Settlements
Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft’s Securities Division issued a consent order against Conestoga Trust and Conestoga International LLC after they sold more than $830,000 in unregistered securities to 14 Missouri residents.
Between December 6, 2010, and March 16, 2016, three unregistered agents for the companies sold more than $830,000 in unregistered life settlement investments, which are securities under Missouri law, to 14 Missouri investors. In compensation for the sales, the companies paid commissions of at least $58,000 to their unregistered agents.
The Missouri investors are from across the state, in Lake St. Louis, Independence, Blue Springs, St. Louis, Kansas City, Chillicothe, Camdenton, Sibley, Grain Valley, Lee’s Summit and Gladstone.
In a release Jay Ashcroft said “Investments like these can be very risky. Essentially, the investor is gambling on the death and/or life expectancy of the policy holder. ”
The two companies have agreed to pay restitution to investors who had forfeited policy interests. For other investors who have active policy interests, the companies have agreed to subsidize future premium payments. The division ordered the companies to pay $115,000 into the Investor Education and Protection Fund, with $100,000 of that amount waived as long as they complete their obligations to the investors.
