County Attorney Meyer resigns, accused of ‘breach of fiduciary duty’

Former Richardson County Attorney Robert Meyer, who resigned his elected post at the June 4 Count Commissioners meeting, was named as a defendant in a civil lawsuit filed on May 30 in Richardson County District Court.

Jlee Rafert of Shelby, NE, along with her four daughters, filed the complaint, which alleges that Meyer breached fiduciary duty.

According to the complaint, Meyer prepared an Irrevocable Trust Agreement on March 17, 2009 and has served as trustee since then. Three life insurance policies totaling $8.5 million comprised the trust. Rafert paid the following premiums for the policies to Meyer who was to forward them along to the insurance companies: $164,521.13 to Lincoln National Life Insurance Company, $154,269.50 to TransAmerica Life Insurance Company and $92,236.80 to Lincoln Benefit Life Insurance Company.

The complaint states, “Meyer directly affected the policies by not forwarding the premiums to the insurance companies which caused the policies to lapse for nonpayment of the premiums without any notice to the plaintiffs.”

The lapse in the policies was not realized until August of 2012.

The plaintiffs are seeking “restoration of the trust estate and trust distributions to what they would have been if the trust had been properly administered.”

Doug Merz and Weaver and Merz Law Firm were also named in the complaint.

Meyer was elected Richardson County Attorney in 2010 and resigned effective immediately last Tuesday.
    

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