On January 20, 2009, Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court, Southern District of New York, on behalf of all persons who purchased the Variable Universal Life Insurance ('VUL') Policies issued by Tremont International Insurance Limited or Argus International Bermuda Limited [AGH BH] (collectively, the 'Insurer') from January 1, 2003 through the present (the 'Class Period'), against Argus International Life Bermuda Limited, Argus Group Holdings Limited, Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co., Oppenheimer Acquisition Corporation, Rye Investment Management, Rye Select Broad Market Fund L.P., Rye Select Broad Market Insurance Portfolio, LDC, Tremont [Bermuda] Limited, Tremont Capital Management Inc., Tremont Group Holdings, Inc., Tremont International Insurance Limited, and Tremont Partners Inc., and arising out of the $50 billion dollar Ponzi scheme orchestrated by Bernard Madoff ('Madoff').

The complaint asserts that, during the Class Period, the Insurer, originally an entity owned by Tremont Capital Management Inc., breached its fiduciary duties to Plaintiff and the Class by offering Tremont-related funds as viable investment options for the variable investment account component of the VUL policies. Despite the fact that the income streams from the variable investment accounts are often used by VUL policyholders to pay premiums under the policy, the Insurer offered Tremont-related funds without investigating the suitability of such investments for policyholders and concealed that the Tremont-related funds in fact were heavily invested in Madoff.

The Complaint further alleges that the Defendants failed to perform the necessary due diligence that they were being compensated to perform as investment managers and fiduciaries. Defendants allowed billions of dollars of their clients' money to be invested with Madoff and his related entities without performing adequate due diligence despite the abnormally high and stable positive investment results reportedly obtained by Madoff regardless of market conditions; the inconsistencies between Madoff's publicly available financial information and the purported amounts that Madoff managed for clients; and the fact that Madoff's firm was audited by a small, obscure accounting firm with no experience auditing entities of that apparent size and complexity. These red flags should have alerted Defendants that Madoff's returns were suspiciously aggressive despite the performance of the overall market. Defendants either knew or should have known that the Tremont-related fund assets were employed as part of a massive Ponzi scheme and took no steps in a good faith effort to prevent or remedy that situation, proximately causing billions of dollars of losses.

By acting with gross negligence, recklessness and/or in breach of fiduciary duties owed to Plaintiff and other Class members, Defendants caused and/or permitted Plaintiff and other class members to choose improper and inappropriate investments that have decimated the variable investment account component of their VULs, and, most egregiously, placed these VUL policies at risk of lapsing.

Plaintiff seeks to recover damages caused to the Class by Defendants' breaches of fiduciary duties and to protect the VULs, and the associated death benefits, from premature lapsing.

The case name is styled Chateau Fiduciare S.A. as Trustee of the Map Trust v. Argus International Life Bermuda Ltd., et al. A copy of the complaint filed in this action is available from the Court, or can be viewed by clicking on the complaint link to the right.

Wolf Haldenstein has extensive experience in the prosecution of securities class actions and derivative litigation in state and federal trial and appellate courts across the country. The firm has approximately 70 attorneys in various practice areas; and offices in Chicago, New York City, San Diego, and West Palm Beach. The reputation and expertise of this firm in shareholder and other class litigation has been repeatedly recognized by the courts, which have appointed it to major positions in complex securities multi-district and consolidated litigation.
If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions, please contact Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP at 270 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016, or by telephone at (800) 575-0735 (Daniel W. Krasner, Esq., Gregory M. Nespole, Esq., Demet Basar, Esq., Gustavo Bruckner, Esq., Russell S. Miness, Esq., or Derek Behnke).