For example, in a class action lawsuit filed in 1999 in the state district court of Laredo, Texas, 164,000 teachers learned that the College/Americo Life Insurance Company may not have had their best interest in mind when they were sold 403(b) retirement plans by several of that company’s Independent Marketing Organizations (IMOs).

The lawsuit that settled in 2002 for around $24 million, charged the College/Americo Life Insurance Company with unlawfully selling annuities to school employees at several districts in Texas by marketing them with cafeteria plans. The lawsuit says that College/Americo Life engaged in fraud, breach of duty and good-faith, and negligent misrepresentation. Specifically, the suit charges that school employees were misled into purchasing under-performing annuity products from agents representing that company, said plaintiff attorney G. Wade Caldwell, a partner at Martin, Drought & Torres, Inc., in San Antonio.

The suit also took issue with the life insurance policies sold by College/Americo Life, which were sold as part of the 403(b) annuities. The arrangement was supposed to allow teachers to pay for their life insurance premiums with pre-tax payroll deductions from their annuity plans. Many of the sales, Caldwell alleges, were in violation of Internal Revenue Service regulations.

A few weeks ago, Atwater’s Mark Colbert, who in February 2000, Insure.com featured in a story about insurance industry whistleblowers, discovered that Americo apparently hadn’t learned anything from its experience in Texas. Colbert claims that as recently as February 2006, members of Americo’s independent marketing organizations were still selling fraudulent 403(b)-based retirement plans to teachers in Atwater, Merced, Fresno, Los Banos, Ceres and possibly many other cities in California.

Colbert said that the Americo Financial Life and Annuity Insurance Company, which was given A- ratings by both of the insurance industry’s premier rating authorities, Standard and Poor’s and AM Best, somehow made arrangements to get their agents onto school campuses and in front of teachers. Here, the 44 year-old, who was instrumental in the investigations of Metropolitan Life and Prudential back in the mid 90s, said the agents allegedly claimed to be affiliated in some way with the CA State Teachers Retirement System.

Colbert said that he has already investigated nearly two dozen cases in California from Shasta County all the way down to northern Santa Barbara County. In these cases, Americo agents were allowed onto the school campuses, given access to rooms, and had teachers ushered in to meet with them throughout the day. “Once the agents convinced the teachers that they were working with CALSTRS and were there with the school district’s blessing, it must have been like shooting fish in a barrel,” Colbert said.

In Atwater, Buhach Colony High School Earth Science teacher, Robert Davey, said “I had no idea what was going on. I met with the agents when they were sent to my room. They told me they were with CALSTRS and I had no reason to not believe them. After meeting with Mark [Colbert] and having him show me what was really going on with my retirement, I couldn’t believe I had been so stupid. I guess I shouldn't be so hard on myself though. I mean, weren't there 164,000 teachers supposedly ripped off by this company in Texas?”

Other teachers and school administrators claimed they received notices in their school mailboxes informing them of a 403(b) Retirement Workshop to be held at a local restaurant. A Counselor at the Golden Valley High School in Merced claimed there were 20 – 25 people at the meeting she attended.

Mr. Davey and at least 10 other school administrators and teachers from central California will represent the teachers in California in a class action suit being brought against Americo by the law firm of Casper, Meadows, Schwartz and Cook in Walnut Creek, CA. Colbert, who is currently working for that firm, will also contribute the results of his investigation to investigators at the CA State Dept. of Insurance. “I have been investigating insurance fraud in America for a little more than 14 years,” Colbert remarked, “and my investigations have led to the permanent revocation of a number of agents’ insurance licenses. I have no idea what the Dept. of Insurance may choose to do with these bad agents but, if I was earning my living from the sale of insurance products, I’d hate to be in their shoes.”

Could there be other school districts involved in this scandal? “Absolutely!" Colbert said. "I’ve spoken directly with Superintendent, Mike Hansen, at Fresno Unified and am pleased with the interest he has taken in this matter.” why Fresno? “Americo has a large IMO in Fresno and I suspect their agents have thoroughly saturated that area. You know, why wouldn’t they start with Fresno teachers before going out of the area to other school districts?” Have you identified any potential problems there? “I’ve spoken with an Associate Superintendent from Fresno Unified and been told there could be more than 120 potential victims in that district. I haven’t had time to follow up on those cases yet.”

Can someone tell if there's a problem with their 403(b) without calling you? "Sure. If they've ever purchased a 403(b), an annuity, or life insurance through the Americo Annuity and Life Insurance Company, there could be a problem. If someone is having money deducted from their paycheck before taxes for a TSA and the money is going to Veri-Trust Financial Services or VFS, there could be a problem. It would be difficult to be any more specific than that because most of the teachers I've interviewed know very little about their retirement plan and even less about life insurance. They've told me many times that they trusted the agents because they were led to believe that the company was affiliated in some way with CALSTRS."

Can someone become a member of a potential lawsuit without contacting you? “Yes, once the class suit is certified, anyone who purchased financial products from Americo within a specific time frame should be included in it automatically. I cannot, however, guarantee that.”

There could be Teachers who after reading this article realize they may have fallen victim to Americo’s agents. What would you suggest they do? “They can always call the company. I suppose someone there might be able to help them. I certainly can’t promise anything though. Back on October 19th, I personally notified the Vice President of Americo’s Compliance Department of my findings in central CA. To date, I haven’t heard that anyone has gotten a phone call from that company. People are always free to contact me as well. Your case will be kept completely confidential and you may choose to either become a member of the suit or forget the whole thing. At least you’ll know the truth.”

You worked on cases against MetLife and Prudential that involved over 25 million people. How large is this case and where do you see it going? “What if there were [only] 60,000 teachers in California affected by Americo’s choice to target teachers for this type of fraud. Who is going to help them? I’d like to contact some our local political representatives on this matter,” he continued. "This is an election year and someone might want to be known as the one who went out of their way to help the teachers in California out of a jam. I would hate to think that long after this case settles, a teacher has to file a death claim or collect the money they thought was accumulating for their retirement and find they have nothing. At that point, they’ll have no recourse and are just out of luck.”

Mr. Colbert, what would you say if I mentioned that I have spoken with someone at Americo and was told that all the cases you've supposedly discovered were settled in the national class suit filed in Texas and that the teachers in CA have no recourse. "(laughing) I'd say that you probably talked to an idiot. Seriously though - the cases that are popping up all over California are what we call Post-Class Violations. This means that after the class suit in Texas was settled, Americo agents moved to California and seem to be conducting business as usual."

“Wouldn't it be great if a Senator or someone in Congress stepped up to the plate and officially told Americo that they can't rip the teachers off in California? A few years ago, they basically got away with it in Texas and just a few years later, they're coming after our teachers,” Colbert stated. “I think that if I were charge of Americo's sales division, I might be alittle concerned with this one.”

You received a flier or other document in your school mailbox indicating that the CA State Teachers Association supports the Americo Financial Life and Annuity Insurance Company, the Equita Financial Group (EFG), and Senior Advisor Services, Inc.

You were invited to attend a 403(b) Education Workshop at a local restaurant or meeting place.

You met with an agent at your home or school to discuss a 403(b), life policy or annuity.

An agent referred to an insurance product as "STRS OPTION 9".

An agent suggested that you increase your number of income tax deductions in order to generate income for a life insurance policy placed in a 403(b).

You made arrangements for life insurance premiums to be automatically taken from your paycheck (pre-tax) each month. On your check statement, this may be coded as a deduction for TSA TDS.

An agent told you that your life insurance policy would be “paid up” in 7, 8, or 9 years. After that, it may have been represented that you could contribute more money towards your 403(b).

An agent using a laptop computer or what they may have referred to as a STRS worksheet, compared your current STRS retirement plan to a proposed plan using Americo's life insurance or annuity products.

Life Insurance Fraud Investigators are working hard to identify potential cases and collect information from CA teachers and other school employees. If you have been hurt by Americo or EFG, you may be entitled to compensation.