RICO Claims Alleging Fraudulent Reinsurance Transactions Preempted, Mo. Federal Judge Rules

KANSAS CITY — Claims that an insurer violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations by engaging in fraudulent reinsurance transactions in order to artificially inflate its reported asserts are preempted because they would intrude upon the states’ insurance regulation schemes, a Missouri federal judge has ruled.

On Feb. 12, Chief Judge Greg Kays of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri found the claims contravene the McCarran-Ferguson Act, which gives states the authority to “regulate the business of insurance.”

Dale Ludwick purchased annuities from defendant F&G Life Insurance Co. since April 2011. Defendant Harbinger Group Inc. acquired …