by Structured Settlement Watchdog
I Warned Consumers about the Deceptive Marketing in 2014
In my March 14, 2014 blog MJ Structured Settlement Annuities in Deceptive Structured Settlement Marketing – StructuredSettlements 4Real® Blog: Structured Settlements | Settlement Planning News and John Darer Reviews,
I called out Todd Lesk, CEO of what was then called MJ Structured Settlement Annuities for Deceptive Marketing. Todd Lesk was not selling structured settlement annuities to investors despite his company name. Lesk sold structured settlement receivables to people who sought dependable income. I have referred to this as a scam label for more than fifteen years. It is indisputable that investments in structured settlement payment rights are not an investment in an annuity.
” National Industry Leader” to Dead Phone Line in 3 Years I Observed in 2017
The MJ Structured Settlement Annuities Big Blooper – Structured Settlements 4Real® 2025
Todd Lesk is the “proud CEO” of MJ Settlements in Coral Springs Florida, according to Lesk’s LinkedIn profile
According to Sunbiz.org, MJ Settlements, Inc.was established in May 2023, with Lesk’s wife Ricia as President. The record shows an address at 934 University Drive Suite 425 in Coral Springs, FL 33071. The address is a Pak Mail store which offers mailbox rental services along with packing, shipping, and other business services.
What CEO Todd Lesk sold and MJ Settlements, an entity owned by his wife, Ricia Lesk and MJ Settlements continues to advertise for sale as an annuity IS NOT an Annuity, let alone a Structured Settlement Annuity
The 2012 brochure still bears the name MJ Structured Settlement Annuities. It appears in the next link on the MJ Settlements website. Link to MJSSA – PDF Link goes directly to MJSettlements.com Readers will notice a different number at the Pak Mail Coral Springs location on the 2012 brochure. It is (218). The number at the 2023 filing with the Florida Secretary of State is (425) and accessible at sunbiz.org
The MJ Settlements website persists in referring to structured settlement receivables as annuities which is inaccurate and misleading
“Individuals can invest in existing structured settlements through a secondary market structured settlement annuity. These settlements were initially set up for recipients through legal settlements. Often, they involve medical malpractice or wrongful death lawsuits. Investors buy these future payments, creating a guaranteed and predictable income stream, often with higher returns than traditional fixed-income investments. These annuities are backed by highly rated insurance companies, ensuring a secure and stable income source”.
Lesk is from Long Island New York. Lesk’s New York insurance license expired in October 2024. Under New York Insurance law, “an annuity is a contract between a purchaser and an insurance company” Life Insurance: Annuity Products in New York | Department of Financial Services
Under the plain language in New York law, what Lesk sold was not an annuity. He sold it to New York consumers as a Secondary Market Annuity. The annuity itself was never for sale. The seller did not ever own the annuity. The seller had no right to sell it under the settlement agreement. The seller would have signed a qualified assignment at the time of settlement of their case. Structures 101.
Florida 627.4554 Suitability in annuity transactions.—
Furthermore, I reported this in the 2014 above linked blog post. According to the Florida Department of Financial Services, Todd Lesk was the CEO. The company was then named MJ Structured Settlement Annuities, Inc. He was licensed as an insurance agent in Florida. Nonetheless, he did not show an appointment with Genworth, Liberty Life, MetLife, New York Life, The Hartford or Presidential Life. He was not approved for structured settlements by all of the companies he attempted to represent he was. As I contemporaneously reported, MJ Structured Settlement Annuities website page displayed the trademarked logos of each of these companies. This was an obvious effort to create the appearance of “annuity legitimacy” as a honeypot to attract investors. In reality, there was no legitimacy.
The details of Lesk’s Florida license were accessed through the public Florida database Licensee Detail. It was revealed that Lesk is only appointed with a few carriers. Only one of these carriers issues structured settlement annuities. None of the current appointments match the deals presently for sale. Lesk is not appointed in Florida with any of the annuity issuers. These issuers are named in the deals ready to close on the MJ Settlements website. Of course, he wouldn’t be would he? That’s because they ARE NOT annuities.
Have the wheels come off the wagon for hot dogs selling people structured settlement receivables? Are the misleading people into believing they are buying annuities?
From a spate of of complaints in Todd Lesk’s FINRA file retrieved at time of posting Todd Michael Lesk – FINRA BrokerCheck:
- “1/20/2024 Statement of Claim alleges RR (Lesk) used his position of trust to provide a false layer of legitimacy to structured settlement activities”
- 2023 Lesk consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings. He did not admit or deny the findings. He refused to give information and documents. He also refused to go for on-the-record testimony requested by FINRA. This was in connection with its investigation. The investigation aimed to find out if he recommended that his customer invest in a crypto asset offering. This offering was outside of Lesk’s member firm.
The wheels may have come off the wagon, but not off the expensive Blue Corvette Todd Lesk drives around town.
Todd Michael Lesk is Permanently Barred from FINRA in ANY Capacity
See for yourself….
The Internet is inundated with with ads from law firms from across the United States seeking business as a result
Examples:
- IMPORTANT NOTICE TO CUSTOMERS OF BARRED FINANCIAL ADVISOR TODD LESK AND LPL FINANCIAL
- Todd Lesk Barred Over Unapproved Securities Activities – Investor Recovery Options — Securities Lawyers Blog — November 11, 2024
Todd Lesk’s troubles have also been the subject of interest of another watchdog.
- My Take On The Troubles Surrounding Broker Todd Michael Lesk And FINRA’s Crackdown by financial writer and investigative journalist Emily Carter, author of the ” Fiscal Watchdog” January 23, 2024
Why did Todd Lesk deceive people? How was he capable of doing so for an extended period concerning structured settlement receivables?
MJ Settlements Current Truckload of BS (from website)
“A. Understanding if a Structured Settlement Annuity is for me?
- Individuals
- Retirement plans
- Corporations
- Foundations”
Comment BS. An individual or entity funds its future periodic payment obligation unless it is a self-insured defendant in a lawsuit. This funding comes from a settlement with a plaintiff or claimant. It is foolishly not doing a qualified assignment.
2. “An original structured settlement annuity becomes a Secondary Market Structured Settlement Annuity when sold. This happens either partially or in full. MJ Settlements offers their investors the safety and guarantee of high yield Secondary Market Structured Settlement Annuity”.
Comments This is total narishkeit* from MJ Settlements because MJ Settlements cannot sell an investor a structured settlement annuity. A structured settlement annuity can’t be sold by an annuitant because they don’t own it. If you have bought a structured settlement receivable from MJ Settlements and it says it’s an annuity, send a copy of the “annuity.” Also, send the correspondence. Then, send these documents to the Consumer Financial Protection Board. Additionally, send them to the Florida Department of Financial Services. Also, send the correspondence. Then, send these documents to the Consumer Financial Protection Board. Additionally, send them to the Florida Department of Financial Services.
*My Yiddishe Bubbie Yiddish Glossary (N to T) – My Yiddishe Bubbie
3. “A secondary market structured settlement annuity” is a fiction. It has been expressly stated “Acquired structured settlement payment rights are not captured as an annuity. They are not considered an insurance product in statutory accounting. See National Association of Insurance Commissioners Statutory Issue Paper No. 160. It was finalized on April 6, 2019. Visit my blog. The NAIC Statutory Issue Paper confirms that factored structured settlement payment streams are not annuities or insurance products. Check out the Structured Settlements 4Real® Blog for more on Structured Settlements and Settlement Planning News. Read John Darer Reviews December 29, 2018.
4. Patrick Hindert, the co-author of what is widely regarded as the seminal industry text Structured Settlements and Periodic Payment Judgments, wrote in September 2020 that these “are neither annuities nor structured settlements”.
5. Not only that, but investors in structured settlement receivables are likely to be out of luck in the event of insolvency due to the 2017 Changes to the Life & Health Guaranty Associations Model Act that have been adopted by majority of states. See my blog Structured Settlement Receivables Have Insolvency Risks Investors May Not Understand – Structured Settlements 4Real® Blog
Also see States That Have Adopted the New (2017) Model Act; and
Florida §631.713(3)(q) Exclusion “This part does not apply to: …(q) Structured settlement annuity benefits to which a payee, or a beneficiary if the payee is deceased, has transferred his or her rights in a structured settlement factoring transaction, as that term is defined in 26 U.S.C. s. 5891(c)(3)(A).”
The worst part of it for investors who were sold investments in structured settlement receivables years ago, who thought they were buying annuities, is that the Model Act is applied retroactive to the effective date of adoption of the 2017 Model Act provisions by a state; AND there’s more…
Had Lesk paid attention… Bad News for Structured Settlement Investors as NAIC Encourages Adoption of Model Act #520 – Structured Settlements 4Real® Blog: Structured Settlements | Settlement Planning News and John Darer Reviews March 15, 2022
6. “MJ Structured Settlement, Inc. helps clients enhance their financial portfolios with high-yield, guaranteed income streams and CD replacements”.
- Again, from his IAPD complaint file this entry “1/20/2024 Statement of Claim alleges RR (Lesk) used his position of trust to provide a false layer of legitimacy to structured settlement activities”
See Download 2023079873001 Todd Michael Lesk CRD No. 2788300 AWC gg (2023-1699489207210)
NEXT…
Anyone Check the Math on MJ Settlements’, Lesk’s Offer Sheet? I Did and Here’s What I Found
On December 27, 2024, I retrieved and reviewed the MJ Settlements offer sheet, which includes two items with apparent calculation errors that overstate the payout to a potential investor and inaccurately states two annuity issuers in naming sources of payments on the respective receivables.
Fuzzy Math 1
Structured settlement receivable, item #2068, closing date 1/3/2025 requires an investment pf $96,291 and purports to pay 200 monthly payments of $1,946.88 from January 01, 2039, through August 1, 2055. Lesk’ MJ Settlements website projects the payout over 200 months to be $465,000. However the math appears off. 200 months times $1,946.88 equals only $389,376.. And if you run a program called Days Between Dates and include both the starting and ending dates it comes out to 199 months plus 1 day which means an even lower total of $387,429.12.
Lesk Missing Attention to detail 1
Lesk incorrectly lists the issuer as Berkshire Hathaway Life Insurance Company. Just a bit more resourcefulness on the part of Lesk would have found the correct name was Berkshire Hathaway Life Insurance Company of Nebraska BH Structures
Fuzzy Math 2
Structured settlement receivable, item #796-05, ready to closer now requires an investment of $36,860 and purports to pay 75 monthly payments of $2,500.00 from January 12, 2046, through March 12, 2052. Lesk’s MJ Settlements projects the payout over 75 months to be $247,500. However the math appears off. 75 months times $2,500.00 equals only $187,500. And if you run a program called Days Between Dates and include both the starting and ending dates it comes out to 74 months plus 1 day which means an even lower total of $185,000.
Lesk Missing Attention to Detail 2
Setting aside for a minute that what MJ Settlements is peddling are not annuiies, Lesk’s MJ Structured Settlements; incorrectly lists the issuer as Prudential Life Insurance Company. Just a bit more resourcefulness on the part of Lesk would have found the correct name was The Prudential Insurance Company of America as it has been since 1877. Download Lesk Deal Table Final 12-27-2024 Payout Errata
Download Lesk Deal 796-5 Calculate Duration Between Two Dates 12-28-2024
Download Lesk Deal 2068 Calculate Duration Between Two Dates 12-28-2024
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Last updated January 4, 2025