An experienced insurance agent lost his license because he sold something he knew nothing about. Insurance agents and brokers should limit themselves to that which they know: insurance. When they deal in securities without a securities license, agents may find themselves in hot water with the department of insurance and may even face criminal prosecution. In Mark Griffin Meyer, Appellant v. Texas Dept. of Insurance, No. 03-10-00642-CV (Tex.App. Dist. 3 11/23/2011), an agent lost his license because he sold securities mislabeled 9-month loans and short-term leases, all because he fell for a sales pitch, lied to his clients and made promises he could not fulfill. The Texas Dept. of Insurance (TDI) took his license and he appealed the decision.

Prior to the revocation order, Meyer had held a Texas general life, accident and health insurance license for approximately two decades. Although Meyer had once focused his business on selling health and life policies to small business owners, over time he had come to trade primarily in insurance products serving the investment needs of clients who were at or near retirement age.

In 1997, Meyer met a businessman named Michael Kelly, who claimed to own several hotels in and near Cancun, Mexico and numerous other Mexican and Panamanian properties and businesses. Kelly was in the process of recruiting agents in the U.S. to sell a non-insurance investment product known as a "9-month note" offered through a Kelly entity, the Yucatan Investment Corp., ostensibly to finance various Kelly business endeavors. As the product’s name suggests, the 9-month note was an unsecured promissory note that paid investors 10.75 percent in interest over a period of 9 months. Before agreeing to do business with Kelly, according to Meyer, a business associate ran a background check on Kelly that revealed no cause for concern. Meyer further claimed that he visited Kelly in Mexico, stayed in a hotel that Kelly purported to own and became assured of Kelly’s business acumen, good character, and great wealth. Meyer began marketing the 9-month note to his insurance clients. For his services in selling the note to his clients, Meyer was paid commissions of between 12 and 14 percent.