Two Ex-MetLife Brokers Charged in an Annuity Scheme

Posted on January 15th, 2015 at 11:33 AM

From the Desk of Jim Eccleston at Eccleston Law Offices:

Two former brokers for MetLife Securities Inc., Christopher Birli and Patrick Chapin, pled guilty to orchestrating an annuity scheme.

According to FINRA, Birli and Chapin both worked for MetLife in Williamsville, New York, until 2012, and focused on advising employees of the State University of New York who participated in its retirement plan.

Between 2004 and 2007, Birli and Chapin allegedly recommended that 45 of their customers switch MetLife variable annuities held in their retirement accounts with new variable annuities held in individual retirement accounts (IRAs) outside the university plan.

Birli and Chapin structured the deals in a way to circumvent a MetLife policy that generally prohibited exchanging the two types of variable annuities in the transactions. The brokers advised clients first to cash in their retirement plan annuities and then to buy another security within the plan to hold for 90 days. Clients then would sell that security to buy a variable annuity through an IRA.

The scheme generated hundreds of thousands of dollars in commissions. MetLife terminated Birli and Chapin in 2012. 

The attorneys of Eccleston Law Offices represent investors and advisers nationwide in securities and employment matters. Our attorneys draw on a combined experience of nearly 50 years in delivering the highest quality legal services.

Related Attorneys: James J. Eccleston

Tags: MetLife Securities, Birli and Chapin, FINRA, Eccleston Law Offices, Annuity Scheme, Schemes

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