Court upholds fine on former insurance agent

The Western News

The Kalispell District Court upheld an order last week fining a former Troy insurance agent $80,000 for defrauding two elderly women in 2007.

Judge Ted Lympus defended the fine and penalties the Montana State Auditor’s Office placed on former Banker’s Life insurance agent Martin Bower after he was accused of committing securities fraud and violating the Montana Insurance Code.

According to a press release from the Montana State Auditor’s Office, Lympus determined there was “substantial evidence” to back the auditor, which ordered Bower in October 2007 to pay $80,000 and banned him from becoming licensed to sell insurance for five years.

In addition, Bower is also banned from seeking any securities registration or licensure, according to the press release.

The case was brought forward by a family member of one of the victims, an Alzheimer’s patient. Bower visited her Ronan home several times in an attempt to convince her to liquidate her securities accounts to purchase a fixed-index annuity from him. 

A second victim lived in an assisted living apartment in Kalispell when Bower attempted to obtain control of her Glacier Bancorp stock certificates in order to sell her a fixed annuity.

“This is a case of an insurance agent giving investment advice without being licensed,” Lynne Egan, Montana Deputy Securities Commissioner, said in the press release. “Investors should contact the State Auditor’s Office if someone is trying to convince them to sell an investment to fund an insurance product, or vice versa, and verify that the person is properly licensed and trained in both fields.”

Bower was cleared of criminal charges after one victim could not remember what happened, and the other victim’s family did not want her to endure a daylong psychiatric exam to confirm she has Alzheimer’s, a request from the defense.

(The Daily Inter Lake contributed to this story.)