Oklahoma-based IIB sues Team Bank, Mystic Capital Advisors

International Insurance Brokers Ltd., headquartered in Tulsa, Okla., filed suit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma against TeamBank N.A., Team Financial Inc. and Mystic Capital Advisors Group LLC claiming damages for conspiracy, fraud, misrepresentation and breach of contract.

According to IIB’s announcement, named in the suit were Robert J. Weatherbie, chairman of the board of directors of Team Financial Inc. and the president of TeamBank N.A.; Michael L. Gibson, chief financial officer of Team Financial Group and TeamBank N.A.; and Kevin Donoghue, a principal in Mystic Capital Advisors.

IIB alleges that Team breached representations, warranties and indemnifications made in connection with IIB’s February 2005 purchase of Team Insurance Group Inc. (TIG), a Team Financial insurance agency subsidiary. According to IIB, the complaint states that all of the defendants participated in defrauding IIB in connection with the acquisition by making representations and warranties to IIB that they knew were false. Matthew F. Coughlin, III, IIB managing partner, noted that his company seeks to recover more than $20 million in damages.

Team Financial, in a Feb. 9 filing of its Dec. 31, 2006, results with the Securities and Exchange Commission, said it believes the claims made by IIB in the lawsuit “are totally without merit, and it will pursue a vigorous defense as well as pursue available counterclaims against the plaintiff.”

Mystic Capital’s Donoghue, in an e-mailed comment to Insurance Journal, said, “In response to [the] press release by International Insurance Brokers, Ltd regarding an alleged suit against Mystic Capital Advisors Group LLC, Mystic Capital cannot fully comment as we have not received a suit. However, Mystic Capital proudly and wholeheartedly stands behind its company’s ethics, professionalism, consultations and work products for not just the engagement referenced in today’s article, but for all of the firm’s engagements.”

IIB claims in the lawsuit filed with the court that, among other things, the defendants “knowingly and deliberately misrepresented the financial condition and the operating results of TIG,” and breached the “warranties and conditions” of their agreements with IIB.