MetLife will pay $13.5M to end probe of ‘improper’ broker payments

MetLife Inc., the biggest U.S. life insurer, agreed to pay the government $13.5 million to resolve an investigation into “improper” payments to a San Diego-based broker that sold the company’s coverage.

“MetLife made millions of dollars in improper payments to obtain the business of the brokerage firm’s clients,” the Department of Justice said in a statement today. “These hidden fees were, in turn, generally included in the rates charged by MetLife” to the insurance customer.

MetLife failed to report the payments as required by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California Karen Hewitt said in the statement. The payments helped the insurer, led by Chief Executive Officer Robert Henrikson, bid for business with “major corporate clients,” the department said.

“This settlement relates to contingent compensation and other payments made to a particular broker more than 5 years ago,” Christopher Breslin, a spokesman for New York-based MetLife, said in an e-mailed statement. “We are pleased to put the matter behind us.”

MetLife cooperated in the probe and will continue help government officials as the investigation continues, the Department of Justice said. The insurance broker wasn’t named in the statement.