Another Marsh Exec Pleads Guilty
By Mark E. Ruquet
NU Online News Service, Feb. 24, 4:22 p.m. EST–A third Marsh executive has pleaded guilty to criminal charges in the New York State's Attorney General's probe into contingency fee abuses.[@@]
New York's Attorney General Eliot Spitzer said today that a former senior executive of Marsh pleaded guilty to criminal charges in connection with the ongoing investigation of fraud and bid-rigging in the insurance industry.
A spokesperson for the prosecutor's office identified the former executive as Kathryn Winter, 51, of Manhattan.
Her attorney, David Wikstrom declined to comment, but identified her as a former managing director in the firm's Global Broking Unit.
According to a statement from Mr. Spitzer's office, Ms. Winter, in her guilty plea, "admitted that during a period from 2001 to 2004, she instructed insurance carriers to submit noncompetitive bids for insurance business, and that such bids were conveyed to Marsh clients under false and fraudulent pretenses. These noncompetitive bids allowed Marsh to control the market, protect incumbent insurance carriers when their business was up for renewal, and maximize profits."
The prosecutor said Ms. Winter pleaded guilty to a class E felony, Scheme to Defraud in the first degree, in New York County Supreme Court. She faces a maximum sentence of between one-and-a-third to four years in prison.
Prosecutors say she is cooperating in the ongoing investigation and is expected to testify in future cases.
A total of ten employees associated with Marsh, American International Group, Zurich American Insurance Company and ACE have now pleaded guilty.
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