DMH Stallard faces fraud and racketeering claim

DMH Stallard and its financial services partner Kip Stenning are being sued by US life settlement company Neuma under racketeering and fraud laws.

The five-count civil complaint goes beyond simple claims of negligence and alleges fraud and collusion under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organisations Act (Rico).

Tom McGarry at Chicago firm Hinshaw & Culbertson, representing Stenning and DMH Stallard, said: "The claims of the lawsuit are without any merit whatsoever."

Neuma buys and sells life insurance policies. To make policies more attractive to Neuma's investors, the company has them bonded by a third party against the original policyholder living longer than expected.

Neuma alleges that Stenning's due diligence did not discover that an assumed representative of Unicredit Xelion Banca, which guaranteed the bond, was a fake. Neuma also claims Stenning did not discover that Albatross, the Italian vehicle that issued the bond, had been closed down.

Neuma also alleges that Stenning and UK company Life Settlement Risk Management, which initially offered to cover policies' face value for Neuma, were "associated together" in an enterprise that "fraudulently received or collected foreign premiums and funds".