THE CHUBB GROUP
Flushing out some compromising buzzards…
Sightings from The Catbird Seat
~ o ~
September 4, 2005
Cash payoffs, bonds and murder linked to White House 911 finance
Documents point to attack on America
by White House crime families
by Tom Flocco, www.tomflocco.com
Sioux City, Iowa – According to leaked documents from an intelligence file obtained through a military source in the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI), on or about September 12, 1991 non-performing and unauthorized gold-backed debt instruments were used to purchase ten-year “Brady” bonds. The bonds in turn were illegally employed as collateral to borrow $240 billion–120 in Japanese Yen and 120 in Deutsch Marks–exchanged for U.S. currency under false pretenses; or counterfeit and unlawful conversion of collateral against which an unlimited amount of money could be created in derivatives and debt instruments.
The illegal transactions are also linked to the murder of a U.S. Army colonel charged with overseeing approximately 175 secret CIA bank accounts, according to the officer’s wife, Mrs. V. K. Durham.
During multiple interviews, Durham told TomFlocco.com that Bush 41 and Clinton administration officials visited her husband Colonel Russell Hermann several times in the months prior to and three days before his torture and murder on August 29, 1994.
Durham told us the $240 billion in stolen currency was obtained resulting from George H. W. Bush’s presidential abuse of power, when he authorized former Treasury Secretary Nicholas Brady and former Secretary of State James Baker III to make fraudulent use of the Durham Family Trust collateral without her permission. There is evidence that Colonel Hermann’s and V. K. Durham’s signatures were forged on a Goldman-Sachs bank account certification requesting the conversions to U.S. currency.
The money was never repaid since the ten-year Brady bonds–purchased before September 13, 1991 using the fraudulent collateral and gold bullion as security came due on September 12, 2001—the day after the 9.11 attacks, having allegedly been underwritten and held by the trustee, Cantor-Fitzgerald bond brokerage firm [whose offices on floors 101-105 in the North Tower of the World Trade Center (WTC) were destroyed on 9.11 along with the Brady bond evidence].
Three days before his suspicious death, Colonel Hermann told his wife that former President George H. W. Bush, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and U.S. Marine Colonel Oliver North (pardoned by Bush Sr. two years earlier for his Iran contra indictments when Bush Sr. was also facing indictments for his role in Iran contra) all passed V. K. Durham coming up in an adjacent elevator after all three had left Hermann’s room and gone down in another elevator at the Veterans Administration Health Care Center in Marion, Illinois. Hermann had been probing Bush 41 and Clinton links to narcotics money laundering, according to his wife.
Durham told us that Colonel Hermann told her “Bush, Greenspan and North were trying to get me to sign off on the CI Ltd., the Central Intelligence, Ltd., Iran and Latin American contra accounts. They held about $13-17 billion in physical gold.”
This, raising questions about an evidence trail for a grand jury to seek restoration of funds potentially stolen by high government officials from United States taxpayers….
“Control files” blackmail congressional and DOJ officials
Stewart Webb alleges that an important key to the “control” of the U.S. House and Senate has been the use of blackmail via “Operation Brownstone,” led by individuals he calls CIA shadow government players like Ted Gunderson, Harold George Pinder and Clint Murchinson Jr. – setting up legislators for blackmail through child pedophilia rings using both vulnerable male and female children from orphanages all across the United States. This, according to scores of documents and witnesses.
Americans who are concerned about pedophilia, with near daily reports of kidnappings or disappearances of young children who later turn up dead or fall victim to Mexican, South American and Middle Eastern child sex slavery need only start with the ongoing cover-up of pedophilia in the halls of Congress and the White House. It’s still a hushed-up secret, waiting for irate parents and family victims to march on Washington.
Other congressional blackmail was employed, according to Webb, by the late Leonard Millman, New York Senator Hillary Clinton, Neil Bush and Florida Governor Jeb Bush in an entity known as the MCRD-Boulder Properties Limited Partnerships – financed by Silverado Savings & Loan; and Webb says this forced dozens of current and former congressmen into bankruptcy, including high-profile current New York Senator Charles Schumer. [Media Bypass, May, 2000]
Additional bribes and payoffs were affected through Millman’s cutout company, Denver’s M&L Business Machines to David Mann, Asst. DOJ Inspector General, who works under Lee Redneick, DOJ Inspector General, with money also paid to Denver U.S. Attorney Mike Norton and Robert Pence, head of the FBI Denver office.
Illegal campaign money laundering involved Millman’s MDC holdings–fined by the SEC in 1991 and covered up by former Colorado Attorney General Gail Norton, the current Bush 43 Secretary of Interior, according to Webb. [ TIME, “Rush for Gold–How Silverado Operated,” 8-14-1990, and TIME “Running With A Bad Crowd,” 10-3-1990]
Norman Philip Brownstein, a current Director of Denver’s Chubb Insurance Company, allegedly owned by George H. W. Bush and Webb’s ex father-in-law, the late Leonard Millman – through illegal trusts funded by laundered drug money controlled by Brownstein – paid President Clinton’s legal fees and also paid off Paula Jones in her sexual harassment suit against the President. Clinton’s personal attorney, James M. Lyons–engulfed in the Whitewater scandal–sits on the board of Millman’s MDC holdings.
All this, according to Webb’s documents and first-hand witnesses, but also Webb’s grand jury demand–filed three times.
Webb told us as recently as August, 2004 in U.S. Federal Court in Denver [Case No. 95-Y-107], Chief Judge Richard Matsch has continued to ignore and obstruct his explosive evidence in a manner similar to when Matsch ruled in the Oklahoma City bombing case.
Lastly, another illegal operation employed to “control” and pay off House and Senate members was through Apartment Investment and Management Company (AIMCO)–a real estate investment trust (REIT) currently run by former Congressman Terry Considine and Bush 41 attorney Norman Brownstein.
Members of Congress have been bribed via the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) via Millman and Brownstein’s handing over hidden corporate ownerships in AIMCO’s stolen HUD properties, the federal whistleblower has alleged.
According to Webb, AIMCO is the largest landlord of U.S. apartments–with units that were stolen by Millman’s partner Phil Winn of Denver’s Winn Group, the focus of the 1989 congressional “HUD Scandal “ investigation which led to Independent Prosecutor Arlen Adams convicting Switzerland Ambassador Phil Winn and others–but three months before leaving office, President Clinton pardoned Winn. And congressmen continue to profit from money stolen from the taxpayers.
All this, as the voices of thousands of American boys cry out from their graves on the bluffs above the Normandy beaches on the English Channel: “France!…now it’s your turn to help America.”
Who will guard the guards?
Mary Schneider contributed additional research for this report.
[Mary was illegally fired by the Department of Homeland Security for her whistleblower activity in the Orlando, FL Immigration office to protect America. Rep. Ric Keller (R-8-FL) and Sen. Bill Nelson (R-FL) refused to help Mary even after I flew to Florida and met personally with them….]
www.tomflocco.com/fs/FinancialTerrorism.htm
www.theantechamber.net
March 23, 2005
Court: Insurance Co. Must Pay Legal Fees
Forbes
A company that insured Tyco International Ltd. executives must pay legal bills for former CEO L. Dennis Kozlowski, who is on trail on corporate-looting charges, an appeals court says.
In a 5-0 ruling, the state Supreme Court Appellate Division left open the possibility that Federal Insurance Co., a subsidiary of Chubb Corp., could later recover some of the costs from Kozlowski.
The lower court judge had ruled that Federal, which provided liability coverage to Tyco, was required to pay Kozlowski’s legal bills.
The appeals court modified the ruling to say Federal was obligated only to pay legal costs of defending covered claims, and could later be repaid for the legal costs of defending noncovered claims.
Federal lawyer David J. Hensler said Wednesday he had argued the policy’s “personal profit exclusion” applied to some claims against Kozlowski because the former CEO was accused of enriching himself by some of his crimes.
The appeals court wrote Tuesday in its 19-page opinion, “Federal must pay all defense costs as incurred, subject to recoupment when Kozlowski’s liabilities, if any, are determined.”
Kozlowski, 58, and Mark H. Swartz, 44, Tyco’s former chief financial officer, are accused of stealing $170 million from Tyco by hiding unauthorized pay and bonuses and by abusing loan programs. They also are accused of making $430 million by inflating the value of Tyco stock by lying about the company’s finances….
In February 2003, Kozlowski notified Federal of the civil and criminal cases against him and demanded that the insurer pay his defense costs. Federal responded by canceling the liability policies and returning Tyco’s premiums.
Federal tried to void the coverage while claiming that Kozlowski, Tyco’s CEO from January 1992 until June 2002, had misstated information about the company’s finances and other matters in his insurance application.
Kozlowski sued Federal, saying the allegedly false statements were filed with the federal Securities and Exchange Commission, and that a clause in the policies barred Federal from attributing the statements to him.
The appeals court agreed with the lower court that Federal had to pay until its claims had been litigated….
Tyco, which has about 250,000 employees and $36 billion in annual revenue, makes electronics and medical supplies and owns the ADT home security business. Nominally based in Bermuda, its operations headquarters are in West Windsor, N.J….
For more on Tyco, GO TO > > > Tracking the Tyco Flock
February 23, 2005
Lawsuit Accuses Insurers of
Rigging Bids, Fixing Prices
Two small businesses allege that insurers paid
independent agents a second commission
By Rene Stutzman, Orlando Sentinel
SANFORD – Two small Seminole County businesses are suing some of the insurance industry’s most prominent players, including the Chubb Corp. and Prudential Financial Inc., accusing them of rigging bids and fixing prices.
The suit, which seeks class-action status, names two-dozen insurance companies or insurance brokerages that do business in Florida.
It accuses the insurers of paying independent agents a second commission, or “contingent commissions,” to lock up more business.
Independent agents are supposed to work strictly for their clients, according to the suit, selling the insurance policy that best fits their needs.
The second commission though, skews that, causing agents to push the insurance line that pays them what amounts to a “kickback,” according to the suit. It accuses the insurers and brokers of racketeering, bid rigging and anti-competitive behavior.
As a consequence, customers – all of them businesses – have been cheated out of “hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars” since 1994, according to the suit.
The suit makes the same allegations that New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer did four months ago, when he launched an investigation that, so far, has won guilty pleas from nine insurance company or insurance brokerage executives, including those associated with two of the companies named in the Seminole County suit.
Those two companies are American International Group, also known as AIG, and ACE Insurance.
Shortly after Spitzer announced his investigation, Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist began one of his own. Crist has issued subpoenas to nearly two-dozen insurance companies and brokers, according to Bob Sparks, a spokesman in Crist’s office.
The Seminole County suit was filed Feb. 16 in state Circuit Court here by Palm Tree Computer Systems Inc., a small Oviedo company that sells and services computers and provides Web page design and hosting; and Delta Research Institute Inc., a Longwood financial-research company.
Officers with neither company would discuss the suit. Each, though, is represented by Longwood lawyer Mark Nation….
A tiny, independent insurance agency in Winter Park, First Market International Inc., is one of the defendants. It sold insurance from The Hartford to Palm Tree.
First Market President Tom Rossello called the allegations “ridiculous.”
“No, we don’t get contingent commissions,” he said.
December 3, 2004
Chubb Receives Subpoena from SEC
The Insurance Journal
The Securities and Exchange Commission has subpoenaed The Chubb Corp. in a “fact-finding inquiry” regarding loss-mitigation insurance products.
The Warren, N.J., company said in a filing with the SEC that the subpoena was similar to one Chubb received from New York state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.
Chubb has earlier disclosed inquiries by other prosecutors and insurance regulators also have made inquiries that were previously disclosed.
Chubb said in the filing that it got the SEC subpoena on Monday, Nov. 29. The company said it believes the probe also involves other companies, “and that Chubb has not been singled out in being asked to provide information to the SEC.”…
Spitzer and other regulators have been investigating allegations of conflicts of interest in the insurance industry.
Shares of Chubb closed Wednesday at $77, up 79 cents, or 1 percent, on the New York Stock Exchange.
Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2004/12/03/48252.htm
May 18, 2004
Chubb Latest to Face N.Y. Probe
of Compensation Pacts
The Insurance Journal
The Chubb Corporation in Warren, N.J. has received a subpoena seeking information regarding certain compensation agreements between insurance brokers and Chubb’s insurance companies from the New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer….
Marsh & McLennan, Willis Group and Aon Corporation previously confirmed that they have received subpoenas from Spitzer. The subpoenas are seeking information as part of a preliminary inquiry into compensation agreements between insurance brokers and insurance companies.
In February, the national, non-profit public policy group Washington Legal Foundation (WLF), wrote the New York and California attorneys general and insurance departments asking them to probe “two potentially damaging practices engaged in by some in the insurance brokerage industry.”
The two practices WLF wants targeted are placement service agreements (PSAs) and “leveraging” in the insurance brokerage industry. WLF alleges that these practices present conflicts of interest.
The group maintains that PSAs encourage brokers to steer customers to insurers that will profit the broker in contingency fees, but not necessarily benefit the customer.
“This is a troubling trend in the insurance brokerage industry,” said WLF Chairman and General Counsel Daniel J. Popeo. “Insurance brokers are paid to advocate for their customers, not themselves.”
WLF likened these agreements to abuses recently uncovered in the mutual fund industry by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The practice of “leveraging” or “tying” refers to brokers coercing insurance companies into using their services to purchase their reinsurance in exchange for future referrals for their primary insurance business….
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(Catbird Note: For an earlier case of alleged racketeering, leveraging and price fixing involving Marsh & McLennan and the Chubb Group, GO TO > > > Harmon’s Claim Letter to John Sinnott; The Harmon Chronicles; RICO in Paradise; Claims By Harmon; Harmon’s Letters to Insurance Commissioners; Mary Lou Woo vs. Harmon)
< < < FLASHBACK < < <
August 31, 2000
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY
CALIFORNIA PUBLIC EMPLOYEES’ RETIREMENT SYSTEM,
OF Itself and All Others Similarly Situated,
Plaintiff,
vs.
THE CHUBB CORPORATION, DEAN R. O’HARE, DAVID B. DELSO, HENRY B. SCHRAM, EXECUTIVE RISK INC., STEPHEN J. SILLS, ROBERT H. KULLAS and ROBERT V. DEUTSCH,
Defendants.
CLASS ACTION
COMPLAINT FOR VIOLATION OF §§10(B) (AND RULE 10B-5), 14 AND 20(a) OF THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 AND §§11 AND 15 OF THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933
DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL
SUMMARY OF ACTION
1. This is a class action on behalf of all purchasers of the common stock of The Chubb Corporation (“Chubb” or the “Company”) between 4/27/99 and 10/15/99 (the “Class Period”), including the former shareholders of Executive Risk Inc. (“Executive Risk”) who exchanged their Executive Risk shares for shares of Chubb stock in the merger in 7/99. Chubb sell personal, standard commercial and specialty commercial insurance and is one of the largest U.S. underwriters of directors’ and officers’ liability insurance. This action arises out of a scheme to make it appear that serious problems and increasingly large losses in Chubb’s standard commercial insurance business, which had badly hurt Chubb’s results in 97-98, were being overcome by a combination of rate increases and non-renewal of unprofitable standard commercial insurance business … which enabled Chubb to report better-than-expected earnings per share (“EPS”), indicating Chubb’s business was turning around faster than expected and that Chubb would therefore achieve stronger EPS growth in 99 and 00 than earlier forcast, thus artificially inflating Chubb’s stock to $76-3/8 per share in mid-99. This enable Chubb to successfully complete its extremely important acquisition of Executive Risk – a highly profitable underwriter of directors’ and officers’ liability insurance – in exchange for 1.235 shares of Chubb stock for each share of Executive Risk stock … The inflation of Chubb’s stock price reduced the number of shares Chubb had to issue to acquire Executive Risk, saving Chubb at least $300-$400 million, while enabling the top three insiders of Executive Risk to receive millions in special benefits and payments upon the sale of Executive Risk to Chubb. However, just eight days after Chubb’s acquisition of Executive Risk, Chubb shocked the markets by revealing much worse-than-expected 2ndQ 99 EPS due to increasing losses in its standard commercial insurance business …
www.securities.stanford.edu/1010/CHUBB96/complaint083100.htm
For more on CalPERS pension plan, GO TO > > > The Great Nest Egg Robberies
April 30, 2002
Chubb CEO O’Hare to retire,
profits up on rate hikes
By Bill Rigby
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Chubb Corp’s (CB) Chief Executive Dean O’Hare on Tuesday announced his intention to retire within the next 12 months, as the insurer reported quarterly profits up 13 percent, boosted by higher premiums.
Chubb’s shares rose 4 percent, to $76.15 on the New York Stock Exchange, nearing their $79.50 52-week high, as O’Hare forecast higher profits next year.
“Chubb’s earnings are in the early stages of a major turnaround,” said O’Hare, on a conference call with analysts. “I want to go out at the beginning of a golden era for Chubb, not just before the end of one.”
O’Hare’s announced intention to retire comes as Chubb, one of the leading U.S. business insurers, enjoys a surge in insurance premium rates, after a decade of declines.
The Sept. 11 attacks only served to accelerate price increases.
O’Hare, who will turn 60 in June, has been CEO of Chubb, for 14 years. He joined the firm 39 years ago.
Chubb is starting the search for a new CEO immediately. O’Hare who will stay on as CEO until a successor is found.
“I was a little surprised,” said Williams Capital Group analyst Michael Paisan. “But now’s the time to bow out, as Chubb is firing on all cylinders.“
The Warren, New Jersey-based firm reported first-quarter net profits of $198.2 million, or $1.15 a share, up from $175 million, or 97 cents a share, a year earlier.
“The hard market has arrived, we helped bring it about,” said O’Hare on the conference call. “We were better prepared for it than most of our competitors, and we are reaping the benefits — big time.”
Next year would be even better for Chubb, O’Hare said, as rate increases make a full impact on the bottom line.
“If you think 2002 will be good, you ain’t seen nothing yet,” O’Hare said….
For more on Chubb’s part in the 9-11 terrorist attacks, GO TO > > > Axis of Evil
October 28, 2002
Medical Insurance Settlement Reached
By Frank Cho, Honolulu Advertiser
Companies that insured executives of the defunct Pacific Group Medical Association, and the United Public Workers Union, have agreed to pay nearly $10 million to settle claims over the insurance company’s failure and millions of dollars in unpaid premiums.
The agreement, one of the largest insurance settlements in recent years in the state, is the first related to the collapse of the medical insurer and caps more than five years of efforts.
Pacific Group Medical Association was one of the largest failures of an insurance company in state history. State regulators seized the troubled medical insurance company in March 1997 hoping to avert a financial collapse as auditors and consultants reviewed the firm’s financial records. The company, which had about 12,000 members, was declared insolvent five months later.
The settlement means about 1,756 former members of Pacific Group Medical Association and 2,372 medical providers with claims against the failed company will be receiving payments, according to state records. Creditors have filed nearly $16 million in claims against the defunct company.
“The situation looked very bleak at the time PGMA collapsed. There appeared to be nothing left by ash,” said Wayne Metcalf, the state’s insurance commissioner. “But because of aggressive recovery efforts, we were able to recover significant amounts of money and that is heartening.”…
The settlement covers most of the claims against the company’s former leadership, but does not affect a multimillion-dollar lawsuit by the state against Peter Wong, the medical insurer’s former chief executive officer.
Wong, who now lives in California, filed for bankruptcy protection in March. The civil lawsuit by the state against Wong is set to go to trial in March.
Executive Risk and the John Alden Life Insurance Co. and other defendants agreed to settle claims against former PGMA executives for more than $6.8 million. Voluntary Employees Benefit Association, an affiliate of the United Public Workers union, agreed to pay nearly $875,000 to settle unpaid insurance premiums to PGMA….
Metcalf said a separate settlement was reached with the United Public Workers union for $1.7 million for unpaid health insurance premiums, but that settlement is still awaiting court approval.
Defendants who have still not settled include Wong, his wife Susan, Pacific Benefit Services and Four Winds RSK Inc., a company owned by Robin Rodrigues Sabatini.
Sabatini, and her father UPW union leader Gary Rodrigues are on trial on charges of mail fraud, conspiracy to defraud a healthcare benefit program, conspiracy to launder money and money laundering related to their dealings with PGMA and other Hawaii health insurers.
PGMA at one time provided healthcare coverage for the United Public Workers, which Rodrigues heads as statewide director. The union eventually dropped PGMA and stopped paying premiums after the insurer failed to pay providers.
The state said it believes Wong and other PGMA officials pocketed millions of dollars in member premiums while leaving the company without enough money to pay claims.
“There was a lack of effective checks and balances by the board of directors at PGMA which enriched Mr. Wong to the detriment of the company,” said Metcalf.
“That is really the PGMA story.”
For more, GO TO > > > Buzzards in the Doctor’s Office, Harmon’s Letters to Insurance Commissioners; Mary Lou Woo vs. Harmon; Predators in Paradise; RICO in Paradise; Mary Lou Woo vs. Harmon
November, 2001
Footloose and Taxfree
A syndicated monthly column by
Miami-based Offshore Business News & Research Inc.
Billions of new capital flows into
Bermuda’s insurance market
Billions of dollars of new capital is flooding into the Bermuda insurance and reinsurance market as existing firms seek to replenish reserves and Wall Street seeks to take advantage of soaring rates in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States. So far, plans have been disclosed for four new reinsurers with combined targeted capital of more than $3.5 billion, while existing firms have raised or are raising over $2.2 billion in securities offerings.
It is the Third Wave of new capital to flow into the Bermuda market over the last 15 years. In the mid-1980s, the asbestos crisis led to the formation of ACE and EXEL; in 1992/93, Hurricane Andrew led to the formation of several massive property catastrophe reinsurers and, now, the terrorist attacks are leading to the current activity.
The backers of the new firms include blue-chip firms such as Goldman Sachs, Marsh & McLennan, American International Group and Chubb Corp.
Meanwhile, Bermuda’s insurers and reinsurers have taken massive hits in the Third Quarter as a result of the World Trade Center incident. XL Capital reported a quarterly loss of $840 million, ACE lost $442.6 million and IPC Re lost $69 million….
For more on the 9-11 terrorist attack and the cover-up in progress, GO TO >>> Axis of Evil; The Eagle Hooded
Dean R. O’Hare – CEO of Chubb Corporation
From Executive Pay Watch:
In 2000, Dean R. O’Hare raked in $27,572,966 in total compensation from Chubb.
In addition, the Chubb executive took home $3,324,035 in stock option exercises from prior grants.
And Dean R. O’Hare has $27,281,046 in unexercised stock options from previous years.
From Washington on $10 Million a Day: Foreign Lobbying: . . . In Oct of 1996, Brent Scowcroft traveled to Beijing, joining Chubb Corp CEO Dean O’Hare at a meeting with Premier Li Peng. According to an account in the Chinese press, Li “expressed his appreciation for the prolonged efforts Scowcroft has made in helping to develop Sino-U.S. relations,” while Scowcroft assured his host that he was “willing to make further efforts” for that cause.
Scowcroft also sits on the board of at least two corporations with big interests in China, Northrop-Grumman and Qualcomm, and is a trustee of the business-funded Asia Pacific Exchange Foundation, a right-wing beltway outfit that promotes closer ties with Beijing. . . .
From The Chubb Group web site:
Chubb History – A Brief Look Back
In the spring of 1882, Thomas Caldecot Chubb and his son Percy opened their marine underwriting business in the seaport district of New York City. Having collected $1,000 from each of 100 prominent merchants to start their venture, they focused on insuring ships and cargoes.
The Chubbs were adept at turning risk into success, often by helping their policyholders prevent disasters in the first place. By the turn of the century, Chubb had established strong relationships with the insurance agents and brokers who placed their clients with Chubb underwriters, and the original subscribers enjoyed a substantial return on their investment in the young company.
Chubb & Son did not value size in itself but regarded it as a measure of what had been achieved. Upon the Company’s 75th anniversary in 1957, Hendon Chubb – who had joined his older brother Percy in the firm in 1895 – noted, “I think there is perhaps a tendency in American business to over emphasize mere size, whereas to me it should be a by-product of a job well done.”
“Never compromise with integrity,” also a Hendon Chubb principle, captures the spirit of our organization.
Each member of the Chubb organization seeks to stand apart in bringing quality, fairness and integrity to each transaction, for the benefit of all involved.
The Chubb Corporation was formed in 1967 and was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1984. It ranks among the top 10 publicly traded insurance organizations based on revenues in the United States.
With more than 10,000 employees throughout North America, Europe, South America, and the Pacific Rim Chubb serves property & casualty customers from more than 132 offices in 33 countries….
February 11, 1998
The cat and the man in the hat
by Kevin Shank, Pryor Daily Times
Call it return to Temple of Doom. He even wore a fedora, just like Indiana Jones. Still, Dan Judd insists he’s no hero.
It was late Friday evening when Judd, a Pryor computer businessman, was relaxing at home when the phone rang. “Your building’s on fire,” the woman said.
Judd leapt to his feet, fearing not for the tens of thousands of dollars of computer gear locked inside his office in the unit block of South Mill. Judd wanted the sentimental items, like his homemade U.S. Flag and his Army honorable discharge certificate.
Most of all, Judd wanted to rescue his pet cat – a former stray he already rescued once from the streets – and six kittens only days old.
“I thought, ‘Oh, my God, the kittens are in there’,” Judd said.
He rushed to the scene and, having donned his dark fedora hat, rushed into the building which was quickly filling with smoke. “When I got here you could see maybe two feet in front of your face,” Judd recalled.
In addition to the life-endangering smoke, Judd had another problem: the frightened momma cat had tucked her kittens up behind a wooden cabinet in a back room of the office. Brute force took over and Judd yanked the cabinet free.
“I don’t know how I got it off the wall, it had six anchor bolts. I guess it was one of those adrenalin things,” Judd said.
Once the counter had been pulled from the wall, Judd began feeling frantically for the animals, stuffing the babies inside his coat pockets.
“I was grabbing whatever felt fuzzy,” Judd said. Finally, he scooped up the alarmed mother who immediately began protesting with her claws, apparently unaware where her babies were.
With smoke billowing through every room in the office, Judd had to exit out a locked back door secured by screws. Judd had to grope some more, trying to find an electric screwdriver needed to undo the door screws.
Indiana Jones, perhaps. More like Keystone Cops, as Judd tells it.
“I had my pockets full of kittens, a cat in my hand – a clawing and scratching cat in my hand – and I was running around trying to get this screwdriver. Of course, I can’t see the screws, and I’m about to strangle this cat….”
But eventually, Judd was able to open the door and emerge from the burning building, wafts of smoke streaming off his fedora.
Judd said the momma cat complained all the way home until she was reunited with her children, safe and sound, in a bathtub.
Momma and babies were relaxing at home this week while Judd, like other business owners in the affected building, sorted through the damage.
—
A fire started by an Oasis watercooler destroyed our company and cost us our jobs
…and Chubb Insurance is refusing to pay because the owner was risking his life rescuing a cat and six kittens and not some data tapes from the burning office building!
—
WHEN I TOOK THAT CAT INTO THE OFFICE TO HAVE HER KITTENS, I knew she must have been somebody’s pet, with a name and a home and a family. Then all of a sudden that same family throws her out miles from her home in sub-freezing weather.
She must have been thinking, “What could I POSSIBLY have done to make them so mad at me?”
I don’t really consider myself any kind of hero, but I couldn’t just let them all burn to death, could I? I don’t know about anybody else, but I personally couldn’t live with that.
When I sent our initial claim to Oasis, Chubb and Coca-Cola Bottling, Norm Murphy at Oasis told me the defective cord on the water cooler had started the fire, and therefore they were not responsible.
I argued that no one had rented the cord. It was their water cooler that had been rented, and that’s what had started the fire.
Then the article hit the papers, and a miracle happened! Chubb found an easy way to weasel out of not paying for what Oasis’ machine destroyed, and Oasis jumped right on the bandwagon.
According to Glen Day, Vice President of Chubb Insurance, since I had the time to rescue those kittens, I had a duty to ‘mitigate my damages’ by rescuing the company’s files, and “forget about those cats”.
When I posted a web site about this type of sleazy behavior and it began to get attention, I was deluged with threats, lies, and intimidation techniques that felt like something out of a spy novel.
When I finally got enough money together to file suit, Chubb and Oasis responded the very day before my first hearing with a massive harassment lawsuit filed in Federal Court in Columbus, Ohio.
Since then, they’ve threatened several of my witnesses with inclusion in that suit should they continue to support me. They’ve threatened three consecutive service providers with inclusion in that suit for hosting this site, and threatened two major and several minor newspapers and journals with lawsuits should they report the story.
They’ve served me with illegal subpoenas, and threatened me with jail if I did not show up, when I could not afford to even go, much less have a lawyer present.
When they finally agreed to let me be deposed in Tulsa, I showed up and there was no one there to take the deposition.
I’ve heard from several other insurance company representatives that do value honor and decency more highly than money.
According to one, “Yes, if you rescue the family pet from a burning building, we could legally avoid paying for the family television. But, no one except Chubb would ever even think of offering that as a defense.”
This litany of lies and stonewalling goes on, and on, and on. . . .
~ ~ ~
The points I’d like everyone to understand are these:
Chubb Insurance did not develop the reputation for this kind of sleazy behavior overnight, and will continue to practice it as long as it is profitable.
If your home or business should catch fire, make sure your insurance is not with Chubb. Might be best to check it now.
I don’t believe all Oasis watercoolers are defective. They simply got a small batch of bad cords, from a supplier who is now bankrupt, and are unwilling to admit that they made a mistake.
If the school your children attend uses these Oasis machines, make sure you register some sort of complaint. Most of these are rentals, and it’s pretty easy to just send it back and get another one now.
If your child is hurt or, God forbid, killed by one of these Oasis Watercoolers, you won’t want to hear, “Unfortunately, we don’t insure children.”
It takes very little to check, and even less to replace it, and could save you so much grief.
Let’s face it, all we lost was our jobs and business.
I’d hate to see someone else lose a child.
~ ~ ~
Yes, I’d do the same thing again, even if I knew we were going to lose our jobs.
I know now how that mother cat must have felt before I showed up that night, while the fire was spreading through her ‘home’, endangering the lives of her kittens: Frustrated. Helpless. Terrified … and Hopeless.
EPD is asking everyone interested to please help us spread the word about this disgusting behavior.
Boycott Oasis Watercoolers, don’t insure with Chubb Insurance, and above all:
Make SURE there is not an Oasis Watercooler in your home, or where your children go to school.
. . . and, no matter what your inclinations, please do not send us any money! All we want is your e-mail and vocal support!
Electronic Product Development, Inc.
February 7, 2002
Enron losses catch up
with insurers, sting profits
By Bill Rigby
NEW YORK, Feb 7 (Reuters) – As the Enron saga unfolded in front on Congress, the trail of devastation left by the bankrupt energy trader caught up with insurers, wiping millions off quarterly profits.
American International Group Inc. (AIG) and Chubb Corp. (CB) both took a hit on Thursday, adding to the pain of a year already clouded by the destruction of the World Trade Center.
The insurers got hurt by Enron in two ways: underwriting surety bonds, which guaranteed Enron Corp.’s promises to deliver gas; and losses on investments in the Houston company.
The insurers won’t be the last this season to get hit. Life insurer MetLife Inc. (MET) held $63 million in Enron investments, according to analysts, which it may have to write down when it reports earnings next week. CNA Financial (CNA), also reporting next week, has already said it faces $50 million in surety losses.
Further losses may also be lurking in the form of directors’ and officers’ liabilities — designed to protect bosses from lawsuits — but insurers may seek to cancel Enron’s policies if they can show directors meant to mislead investors.
Warren, New Jersey-based Chubb took the biggest hit on Thursday, setting up a $220 million reserve fund to cover surety losses, putting a large dent in reported profits.
Chubb, like other property and liability insurers in the 1990s, turned to surety bonds as a good way of making money as rates declined in their main lines of business.
The practice turned out to be quite risky, however, as sureties were used to guarantee a range of complex financial deals, not just the traditional construction projects or straightforward deliveries.
Chubb has so far only actually paid out a small fraction of its $220 million reserve, and may not end up paying it all, as the firm — along with a group of other insurers — is battling J.P. Morgan & Co. (JPM) to avoid payment on one deal, which the insurers say was misrepresented.
The matter is likely to take months — if not years — to settle, as broader investigations into Enron proceed.
Including the Enron hit, Chubb’s quarterly net profits fell 83 percent, to $28.7 million.
New York-based AIG, the world’s No. 1 insurer by market value, said it paid out $57 million in Enron surety bond claims, and also wrote down $69 million worth of Enron investments in the quarter.
Despite that, the giant insurer, known for delivering reliable profits from its global operations, reported net profits increased 3.5 percent, to $1.87 billion.
AIG and Chubb are the latest in a line of insurers to take a hit from Enron.
Over the past week, several other insurers faced up to Enron-related losses putting a dent in earnings, including John Hancock Financial Services Inc. (JHF), Phoenix Cos. Inc. (PNX), and W.R. Berkley Corp. (BER).
© 2002 Reuters
For more on AIG, GO TO > > > The Un-American Insurance Group
For more on the Chubb-Enron connection, GO TO > > > The Story of Enron
For more on the AIG-Chubb-Goldman Sachs connections, GO TO > > > Allied World Assurance
For more on the on-going 9-11 coverup, GO TO > > > Axis of Evil; The Eagle Hooded
Some connections:
The Chubb Group is a holding company whose subsidiaries are engaged in two industries: property & casualty insurance and real estate.
At a point in time, the second largest institutional investor in Chubb was Putnam Investment Management, a subsidiary of the world’s largest insurance broker, Marsh & McLennan.
At a point in time, the third largest institutional investor in Chubb was Citigroup, which was formed through the mega-merger of Citicorp and Travelers Insurance Company.
Citigroup is co-headed by Robert Rubin, former U.S. Treasury Secretary in the Clinton administration and former co-chairman of Goldman Sachs.
A leading institutional owner of Goldman Sachs is Hawaii’s wealthy Bishop Estate.
The broker for Bishop Estate is Marsh & McLennan. Marsh & McLennan placed the estate’s Directors & Officers Liability insurance policy in Federal Insurance Company, a Chubb subsidiary.
Federal Insurance Company provided the excess liability insurance policy for Bill Clinton that defended him in the Paula Jones lawsuit.
Just one big happy flock.
For more, GO TO > > > Axis of Evil
From the RICO lawsuit: Harmon v. Federal Insurance Co, et al.:
Defendant Federal Insurance Company, Inc. (Federal), a member of The Chubb Group, conducts business in the United States and was, at all times, registered with the Insurance Commissioner, State of Hawaii, as an admitted foreign insurance company. Federal conducts business through insurance brokers as well as through licensed general agents of the company. In Hawaii, one of Federal’s licensed general agents is Marsh & McLennan, Inc. (M&M).
On or about October 27, 1995, Plaintiff, in his capacity as Risk/Insurance & Safety Manager for Kamehameha Schools Bishop Estate (KSBE), caused Federal, through its agent M&M, to bind coverages under an Association Liability Insurance policy….
Plaintiff alleges that the failure of Federal, and its agent, M&M, to provide defense coverage to Harmon in Civil No. 97-0512-02 constitutes mail fraud, wire fraud, misrepresentation and fraudulent inducement to purchase this insurance….
As detailed in Plaintiff’s complaint, there was collusion among the Defendants, the primary purpose of which was to increase their profits through the awarding of non-bid insurance contracts to Federal and its agent, M&M.
Profits were further enhanced by Federal through reduction in their claims payments by means of fraudulently “back-dating” an exclusion endorsement in their Association Liability Policy in order to wrongfully deny defense coverages to Plaintiff …
~ ~ ~
For more GO TO > > > Dirty Money, Dirty Politics and Bishop Estate
May 7, 2000
Problems With a Globe-Trotting Father
Politics: Ex-President Bush’s many foreign dealings
could pose conflicts if his son wins White House
By ALAN C. MILLER, JUDY PASTERNAK, Times Staff Writers
WASHINGTON–Since leaving the White House in 1993, George Bush has sought to maintain his ideal of a dignified retirement from the nation’s highest office. He has turned down offers to sit on corporate boards, steered clear of political wrangling and largely stayed out of the public eye.
But Bush sometimes cuts a different figure when it comes to his international dealings. Overseas, he has collected six-figure speaking fees, occasionally weighed in with foreign governments for private companies and sometimes sparked controversy.
In Japan, the former president spoke to 50,000 disciples of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon in a stadium rally–drawing protests from Christian leaders and other critics of Moon’s Unification Church.
In Argentina, he wrote then-President Carlos Menem on behalf of Las Vegas casino mogul Steve Wynn, which helped touch off a parliamentary inquiry about Bush’s possible influence in the country’s internal affairs.
In Indonesia, he jumped into a hot dispute over gold mining rights, contacting then-President Suharto to praise a Canadian company that had retained the former president as an advisor.
And in Kuwait, the Arab oil state freed from Iraqi occupation in the Persian Gulf War, the former president interceded with the emir’s government on behalf of a U.S. oil company.
Makes $4 Million a Year on Circuit
No other former president has created such an international profile. And no other former president has made so much money on the global lecture circuit in such a short time – about $4 million a year in speaking fees. For a single engagement, he received stock that rose in value to more than $13 million at one point.
Normally, such good fortune would be of only passing interest. But George Herbert Walker Bush may be on the verge of an unusual, sensitive new role: father of the next U.S. president. And if Bush’s son Texas Gov. George W. Bush wins the White House in November, he could face the ticklish challenge of reining in his dad’s far-flung activities.
Potential conflicts of interest loom if the son occupies the Oval Office. Would U.S. and foreign companies seek to curry favor by steering business to the father’s associates? Would any future overseas flaps involving the former president escalate into diplomatic incidents?
Both Bushes, father and son, said that there is no cause for concern.
“I will expect the highest ethical standards of the members of my family,” the governor said through a spokesman.
The 75-year-old former president, when asked whether his son’s election would influence his future global pursuits, said through a spokesman: “I am sure that it would.” But he declined to say how.
Another aide, chief of staff Jean Becker, said: “President Bush understands better than anyone the absolute necessity of avoiding even the appearance of impropriety, especially when it comes to a president’s family and friends. President Bush would never do or say anything that would interfere in any way with, or raise questions about, how George W. Bush is conducting himself as president.”
But a source close to the former chief executive acknowledged “increased sensitivity to the groups that President Bush now speaks to because of his sons in public life”: Florida Gov. Jeb Bush as well as George W. Bush.
Nevertheless, one expert on the post-presidency is troubled by some of Bush’s current activities.
Since leaving the White House, the elder Bush has projected a “public persona [as] the happy World War II veteran who is letting the American people see him jumping out of airplanes and being the good family man,” said Douglas Brinkley, a historian at the University of New Orleans.
“And the covert persona is going around giving talks with people like Rev. Moon and representing American corporate interests in foreign countries.”
Brinkley, who wrote a book about Jimmy Carter’s post-presidency, added: “If his son becomes president, he needs to distance himself from all corporations and from going abroad and taking speaker fees.”
The matter of how the ex-president’s global profile may affect George W. Bush is especially sensitive because, if the Texas governor is elected, he is expected to lean on his father–as well as his father’s former White House aides–for guidance on international affairs. George W. Bush says that, while his father would have no formal role in his administration, “of course, I will seek his advice.”
Moreover, during a presidential campaign, many foreign powers look for opportunities to ingratiate themselves with a potential incoming administration. And when a former president visits a foreign country, he attracts attention.
On his frequent journeys to Beijing, Bush usually meets with President Jiang Zemin. His expenses often are paid by U.S. companies pursuing business in China.
A 1998 mission to China was sponsored in part by the Chubb Group of Insurance Cos., which has been seeking an insurance license from the Beijing government.
Bush discussed the Asian financial crisis with an American business group, one of six talks for Chubb worldwide.
“If you’re unknown in China and trying to get known and you’re trying to get a license there, having a former president at a reception might get people to come who might not come otherwise,” said Mark Greenberg, Chubb senior vice president. “We get to rub shoulders with them and get to know them better.”
It is unclear to what extent Bush’s overseas involvements could affect his son’s presidential duties because the former president is not required to disclose any information about his activities or income. His office declined requests for a list of speaking fees, appearances and business sponsors.
There are no federal regulations that address how former presidents earn a living. They are entitled to a pension of $157,000 a year, round-the-clock Secret Service protection, office space and a $96,000 annual allowance for personal staff. And they enjoy full use of U.S. embassies abroad.
The public cost for each former president is about $4 million a year, Brinkley said….
For more on Suharto and Sukamto Sia, GO TO > > > The Indonesian Connection
July 25, 2000
HOMEOWNER ALLIANCE LAUNCHES
NATIONWIDE PROTEST AGAINST
CHUBB INSURANCE
From AHRC News Services
A group of housing advocates, including a strong minority contingent from Mexico, Japan, Malaysia and India, marched with placards outside the offices CHUBB Insurance Company in Newport Beach , Orange County, California, today.
Dressed in colorful costumes with the Statue of Liberty and Uncle Sam on them, they wheeled a house in a red wagon. They waved American flags, carried posters and monkeys on their backs.
Their many placards had messages such as:
“Chubb Lawyers Circling Your Home”,
“Chubb-CAI Monkey on My Back”,
“We pay–They play”,
“Your Association can Leave You Homeless”,
“HOAs–Lawyers’ Heaven”.
Passing motorists honked in support, and workers from nearby office buildings said, “Go get them”.
Willowdean Vance from Florida, a spokesperson for the group, said that this was the first in a series of nationwide protests against Chubb Insurance. Others are planned in Texas and Florida.
The group, the National Alliance of Homeowners, is targeting Chubb Insurance for the role it plays in homeowner associations.
Elizabeth McMahon from California explained that “homeowners in associations pay millions of dollars to Chubb Insurance every year, and Chubb uses this to club homeowners and snatch homes from them.”
Geneva Brooks by phone from Houston stated that in Harris County, Texas, there had been over 3000 foreclosures.
She also said that this was a form of neighborhood ethnic cleansing, as minorities, immigrants, single parents and seniors were targeted.
The protesters outlined the general pattern of this scam.
Chubb Insurance sells Director and Officer Liability Insurance (D&O) to homeowner associations.
Chubb markets this through Community Associations Institute (CAI), a national trade organization of lawyers and other vendors to homeowner associations.
Homeowner Alliance members state that these CAI lawyers manufacture baseless law suits against homeowners.
Geneva Brooks of Texas says that her house was foreclosed on because her front door allegedly had the wrong color.
Elizabeth McMahon said that she had to file a lawsuit to stop her home from being foreclosed on due to a fraudulent $5 late charge. She eventually won, but for over a year she had to endure a blizzard of harassment from Chubb financed lawyers.
When homeowners fight back to protect their homes, Chubb Insurance defends the errant boards to the hilt even when they are charged with “willful misconduct, violation of laws, discrimination etc.”
Elizabeth McMahon said that she spoke directly to the president of Chubb Insurance in her case, but he refused to listen. She eventually won her case, but she said that many homeowners give up because they cannot afford the legal fees, or the stress and burden is too great.
Homeowner Alliance members cited several cases to indicate the extent to which Chubb goes.
In Nevada , Chubb has spent over $1 million on 4 law firms to fight a 52 year old homeowner who wants to live in her deceased parents home after she provided them with care in their old age.
In Texas, Chubb pledged $1 million to fight a homeowner who has exposed the corruption in his association.
Alliance members charge that Chubb has been able to gain a nationwide monopoly in the homeowner association insurance market by promising to squelch homeowners and by, in effect, bribing association managers and boards of directors.
Management companies are covered either for free or at a nominal charge under Chubb association policies .
Alliance members point out that it is unheard of for customers to pay the insurance of its vendors. Board members are provided with $100,000 in Accidental Death and Dismemberment insurance for a scant $100 a year – and all the benefits of such a policy go to the board member’s family – not to the association.
Alliance members state that such arrangements encourage management companies and boards to violate the CCR’s, give themselves special favors, manipulate elections, and otherwise use association funds to improve their own property values.
Managers and board members know that their corrupt practices will be defended by phalanxes of Chubb financed, CAI lawyers. These protesters argue that as they pay the premiums for Chubb insurance policies, Chubb has a duty not to defend corrupt boards and management companies.
The alliance protesters sought to meet with the Chubb area manager in Newport Beach, but were told that he was in a meeting. A subordinate who refused to identify herself told the protesters that they had to speak to their homeowner associations, and asked them to leave.
The protesters have secured a commitment from California State Senator Jackie Speier – the senator who led the investigation which led to the resignation of Insurance Commissioner, Chuck Quackenbush – to hold public hearings on homeowner association insurance in January 2001.
They have also obtained a commitment from Aileen Adams, Secretary for the California State and Consumer Services Agency, to have Kathleen Hamilton, Director of the Department of Consumer Affairs, and Dennis Hayashi, Director of the Department of Fair Employment and Housing, to examine the situation.
“The Mafia never made anybody homeless”, said Willowdean Vance, “but Chubb Insurance can.”
“We will protest nationwide until justice is done. The homes of 40 million Americans are at stake.”…
And just WHO OWNS CHUBB GROUP???
= = = = = = =
As of June 30, 2001:
The #1 Institutional Holder was ALLIANCE CAPITAL MGMT. with 8,272,302 shares worth $640,524,340.
This was followed by #2 – Smith Barney; #3 – Barclays Global Investors (a key member of the Committee of 300); #4 – Capital Research & Mgmt; #5 – State Street Global Investors.
The remaining of the top 15 included: Fidelity Mgmt & Research; Iridian Asset Mgmt; Waddell & Reed Investment; Putnam Investment Mgmt (Marsh & McLennan); Dodge & Cox; Vanguard Group; T Rowe Price; Davis Selected Advisers; Lord Abbett & Company; Primecap Mgmt Co….
And just WHO OWNS ENRON?
= = = = = = =
As of Sept 30, 2001:
The #1 Institutional Holder was ALLIANCE CAPITAL MGMT. with 42,939,048 shares.
This was followed by #2 – Janus Capital Mgmt; #3 – Putnam Investment Mgmt (Marsh & McLennan); #4 – Barclays Global Investors (a member of the Committee of 300); and #5 – Fidelity Mgmt & Research.
The remaining of the top 15 investors included: Smith Barney; State St. Global Advisors; Aim Mgmt; Vanguard Group; Morgan Stanley; Northern Trust; Deutsche Bankers Trust; Massachusetts Financial Service; Presdner Rcm; Cs First Boston Investment….
~ ~ ~
December 21, 2001
S&P comments on Enron-related
insurer lawsuits
NEW YORK (Standard & Poor’s) Dec. 21, 2001 – Standard & Poor’s today commented on the insurance industry in the wake of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.’s announcement that it has filed lawsuits against several large insurance companies – including Chubb Corp., CNA Financial Corp. and Travelers Property Casualty Corp.
These insurers had issued surety bonds that guaranteed various assets of Enron Corp., which filed for bankruptcy earlier this month.
At this time, it is unclear what impact, if any, these lawsuits will have on the ratings on various insurers. Standard & Poor’s will continue to monitor the situation, particularly with respect to the insurers that are the largest issuers of surety bonds, and will make further comments when appropriate….
Copyright 2001, Reuters News Service
For more GO TO > > > Axis of Evil; The Story of Enron; Vampires in the City; Dirty Gold in Goldman Sachs; Dirty Money, Dirty Politics and Bishop Estate
December 21, 2001
XL exposure to Enron $75 million
(Business News) – Contrary to earlier indications, XL Capital Ltd. said its
exposure to claims arising from the bankruptcy of energy trader Enron Corp (ENE)
might total $75 million, but it said it could not yet estimate its Enron losses.
XL said it faced about $45 million in exposure to surety bonds and could face
further large payouts on liability policies if Enron’s directors are successfully
sued. . . .
For more, GO TO > > > Claims By Harmon; More Claims By Harmon: XL Insurance; Dirty Money, Dirty Politics & Bishop Estate; Marsh & McLennan: The Marsh Birds; RICO in Paradise; The Story of Enron
###
MORE TO COME
(There are a lot more rotten eggs to be uncovered in this nest!)
~ ~ ~
FOR MORE CONNECTING NESTS
GO TO
/
NEW > AXIS OF EVIL < NEW
CONFESSIONS OF A WHISTLEBLOWER
DIRTY MONEY, DIRTY POLITICS & BISHOP ESTATE
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Last Update December 21, 2006, by The Catbird