All Sides Cry Fraud In Businessman’s Reported Death In Venezuela

Sept. 30--A court fight over a Jacksonville businessman's reported death in Venezuela is sparking waves of fraud arguments as banks, insurers and entrepreneurs sort through lawsuits in state and federal courts.

"There are a lot of issues of fraud out there that need to be resolved," Michael Fox Orr, a lawyer for a company that did business with furniture store owner Jose Lantigua, told Circuit Judge Waddell Wallace during arguments this week during a case that began a year ago.

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Since then, at least five insurance companies and two banks have argued their sides in a string of suits that center around insurance policies Lantigua, a 60-year-old Cuban native, had when he reportedly died of a heart attack in a small town near Venezuela'sCaribbean coast in April 2013.

A Venezuelan death certificate was issued and accepted by the U.S. embassy in Caracas, and Lantigua was reportedly cremated.

But insurance companies who pooled their money for an investigation of the death have argued Lantigua isn't dead.

A combined $7.75 million in insurance payouts is at stake in the lawsuits, which sometimes pit multiple businesses against insurers who see no reason to write any checks yet.

"It's not Hartford's burden to prove anything. The bank must prove that the insured is dead," Jaclyn DiLascio Malyk, an attorney for Hartford Life and Annuity Insurance Co., told Wallace during a hearing Monday on a suit where American Enterprise Bank argues it's entitled to cash in a $2 million policy Lantigua signed over as collateral for a loan.

A company that also loaned Lantigua money, Mr. Wink2 LLC, was pledged the insurance payout too. While the businesses spar over whose claim comes first, both are also fighting Hartford over whether it has to pay up.

"There are two victims in this room: American Enterprise Bank and Mr. Wink," American Enterprise attorney Charles Jimerson told the judge this week. "We were a victim of fraud. However, just because someone committed fraud ... does that mean that person faked his death?"

A death certificate was all Hartford's policy required to make a claim, Jimerson said, in an argument that dovetailed with one by a lawyer for Lantigua's family.

"Hartford wants to say it's not enough, because it doesn't prove he's dead," said Joshua Woolsey, an attorney representing Lantigua's son, Joseph Lantigua; daughter, Christina Lantigua: and wife, Daphne Simpson. "But contrarily, Hartford hasn't produced anything to show he's alive. That's because he's not."

Besides Hartford's fight in state court, suits are pending in federal court involving Transamerica Life insurance; American General Life Insurance; Jackson National Life Insurance from Michigan; and Connecticut-based C.M. Life Insurance.

The last two are both being sued by Synovus Bank, which says in court papers that it loaned Lantigua $2,125,000 and was pledged policies by the insurers as collateral.

American General and Transamerica, by contrast, are suing for court orders that would declare they don't owe anything.

U.S. District Judge Timothy Corrigan scheduled a joint hearing in about three weeks for the four federal lawsuits. Wallace did not rule immediately rule on motions for a summary judgment in the state court case.

Steve Patterson: (904) 359-4263

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