9/11 Widow Cheated of Victim Compensation Benefits by Former Insurance Broker
After years of coping with personal tragedies, the widows and widowers of victims of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 have dealt with enough. As with many personal injury victims, these widows have been seeking financial compensation for their personal losses in order to spend more of their time focusing on the emotional and mental recovery of losing a loved one.
However, those who are under the most intense emotional strain are often those who are the most vulnerable to scam and con artists. One popular scam in recent months is the foreclosure rescue scam used to take money from those facing the disturbing prospect of home foreclosure.
And now, a former broker with the Metlife insurance company has been charged with fraud for scamming the widow of a Port Authority police officer from death benefits owed to her in connection with her loss in the terrorist attacks.
Kevin James Dunn Jr., who was fired from his job with MetLife in February of this year, was charged by the Brooklyn U.S. Attorney's office with mail fraud and wire fraud to the tune of nearly $250,000.
Dunn also faces separate civil charges from the Securities and Exchanges Commission on the matter.
The woman, whose name was not released for reasons of privacy, knew Dunn socially before they entered into a business agreement, and contacted Dunn regarding life insurance and investment options for the $2 million death benefit she was to receive from the Sept. 11th Victim Compensation Fund.
According to the woman's lawyers, she handed over the $2 million death benefit amount to Dunn in September of 2004, instructing him to place $1.25 million into a brokerage account and the remaining $750,000 into a retirement account.
Dunn's scam involved telling the woman on two separate occasions that her brokerage account was "capped," that is, that she had reached the maximum amount for earnings returns and must withdraw and reinvest monies in order to reap more profits.
In September 2005 and January 2006, Dunn advised two withdrawals from the brokerage account of $700,000 and $250,000, respectively, which he deposited first in an annuity account for himself and then in a "joint account" from which he withdrew $50,000 into a personal bank account.
Dunn also advised the woman beginning in April 2006 to write several checks from the brokerage account with the payee line blank in order to reinvest the money. He then wrote his own name in the payee space, and deposited the funds into his own account.
When Dunn was terminated from MetLife in February, he did not tell the woman, and continued to represent her and lead her to believe he was employed there.
Dunn, age 28, stole a total of $250,000 from the widow, who was not a scrupulous investor and therefore an easy target for fraud.
Recently, the first cases of 9/11 victim family members who decided not to participate in the Sept 11th Victim Compensation Fund were settled before they went to trial for an undisclosed amount.