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Civil litigation is pending in Florida where Brian Grodin, Hugo Tomasio, and Michael Book are accused of violating a myriad of state and Federal laws.  They are accused of unfair trade practice, fraud, misrepresentation, negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, and breach of warranty of fit for a particular purpose.

The CRN was filed by Florida-based attorney on behalf of The Jefferson Family 2021 Dynasty Trust dated 08/17/2021. And the trustee is Jack Carlisle.

In Florida, any potential litigant has to file a Civil Remedy Notice of Insurer Violations (CRN) at least 60 days before bringing legal action against an insurer. And this CRN was filed the last day of May.

Life Insurance

The dispute is connected to the Trust's purchase of three life insurance policies. Policy number 22776886 was purchased on September 8, 2021. On December 31, 2021, additional policies 22816830, and 22820593, were added insuring the life of one of the Jeffersons.

Each of these Policies was issued in the state of Nevada by the New York Life Insurance Company through Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company aka MassMutual.  

The policies are all Whole Life Legacy 12 Pay policies. According to the insurance company, these are “traditional whole life insurance products that can build cash value over the 12-year period during which premium is due, and in the event, annual dividend payments are made.”

The dividend and dividend interest rate is determined annually, subject to changes, and are not guaranteed. The Trust entered into a premium financing arrangement with lender JP Morgan to fund the premiums for the policies. 

The Complaint tied to Brian Grodin and Hugo Tomasio

The complaint relates to a sales process and pitch conducted by insurers Brian Grodin and Hugo Tomasio. During this process, the insured requested a policy or policies that would not require additional funding apart from the collateral amount of $13 million. 

The Trustee emphasized that the insured had already reached maximum gifting limits under the Internal Revenue Code and did not want to exceed them.  The principal in the trust received the same assurances as the Trustee. 

The insurers were informed of this requirement on every call, with the understanding that only the proceeds from the $13 million collateral pool would be used to pay $300,000 per year on the policies. However, it is alleged that the insurers and their agents did not adequately test the models presented to the insured and provided inaccurate numbers.