West Palm Beach (HedgeCo.Net) – Ritchie Capital Management has dropped its suit against Coventry First, so that it can re-file a similar suit with new claims against the Fort Washington, Pa. based life insurance company.
“Our investors lost hundreds of millions of dollars as a direct result of Coventry First’s conduct and the New York Attorney General’s complaint against their fraudulent activities, and we are as committed as ever to holding them responsible for their actions and recovering these damages,” said Ritchie CEO Thane Ritchie in a recent press release. He went on to elaborate how Coventry put their needs ahead of Ritchie’s.
Under Rule 41(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Ritchie has a one-time right to dismiss a case without prejudice and re-file the same and other claims at a later date.
Ritchie purchased several hundred million dollars of life insurance from Coventry First, who assured Ritchie that they complied with all the legal and regulatory requirements and understood that Ritchie intended to sell the policies in rated securitization transactions.
The Attorney General of the State of New York, Elliot Spitzer, then sued Coventry, claiming that they were defrauding life insurance owners out of millions of dollars by paying insurance brokers to suppress competitive bids. The suit asserted anti-trust violations, fraud, and other state law claims. There were also emails that proved Coventry’s executives knew about the unethical behavior.
Coventry continued to stress to Ritchie that they were abiding by all laws and regulations, and that there were no pending investigations into them, which was false.
Ritchie, along with other plaintiffs, filed the original suit on May 2, 2007. Coventry has claimed that this is nothing more than an attempt on Ritchie’s part to take the limelight off their other messy legal battles, which involve an involuntary bankrupt suit brought on by two investors last year. Ritchie plans on re-filing a fraud and breach of contract claim, along with potentially other claims, in the new case against Coventry.
Julie Scuderi
Senior Editor for HedgeCo.Net
Email: julie@hedgeco.net
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