Bankinsure, Inc. v. Peoples Bank of the South

866 F. Supp. 2d 577, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 44643, 2012 WL 1098547
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Mississippi
DecidedMarch 30, 2012
DocketCivil Action No. 3:11CV78TSL-MTP
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 866 F. Supp. 2d 577 (Bankinsure, Inc. v. Peoples Bank of the South) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bankinsure, Inc. v. Peoples Bank of the South, 866 F. Supp. 2d 577, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 44643, 2012 WL 1098547 (S.D. Miss. 2012).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

TOM S. LEE, District Judge.

This cause is before the court on plaintiff Banclnsure, Inc’s motion for declaratory judgment (which is in substance a motion for summary judgment on Banclnsure’s complaint for declaratory judgment and will be treated as such), and on a motion for partial summary judgment filed by defendant Peoples Bank of the South f/k/a Peoples Bank of Franklin County (the Bank). These motions have been fully briefed and the court, having considered the memoranda of authorities, together with attachments submitted by the parties, concludes that the parties’ respective motions should be granted in part and denied in part, as set forth herein.

At issue in this case, inter alia, is whether a Financial Institution Bond (Bond) issued by Banclnsure to the Bank provides coverage for losses alleged to have been suffered by the Bank as a result of certain dishonest and/or fraudulent conduct of bank employee Alex Corban. In April 2009, during the period covered by the Bond,1 the Bank became aware that Corban, an executive vice-president, had conducted multiple fraudulent transactions whereby he forged signatures, made unauthorized withdrawals, and released collateral without authority to do so.2 The Bank made a claim under the Bond for losses allegedly resulting from Corban’s dishonest and fraudulent conduct. Banclnsure denied the claim, and filed the present action seeking a declaratory judgment on six specific issues:

1. Whether exclusion (e) excludes coverage under Insuring Agreement (B);
2. Whether exclusion (h) excludes coverage under Insuring Agreement (B);
3. Whether the Bond is a statutory bond under Mississippi Code Annotated § 81-5-15;
[580]*5804. Whether the financial benefit requirement under Insuring Agreement (A) of the Bond will be enforced as written;
5. Whether the loans in question are considered “loans” under the Bond;
6. Whether interest income is recoverable under the Bond.

The parties have filed competing summary judgment motions as to each of these issues, which the court addresses in turn.3

Issues 1 & 2:

The Bank asserts that coverage for its losses is provided by Insuring Agreements (A) and (B) under the Bond. In the court’s opinion, since the Bank’s losses are alleged to have been caused by an employee, exclusion (h) of the Bond excludes coverage under Insuring Agreement (B).

Insuring Agreement (B) covers the following:

(B) (1) Loss of Property resulting directly from
(a) robbery, burglary, misplacement, mysterious unexplainable disappearance and damage or destruction of the Property or
(b) theft, false pretenses, or common-law or statutory larceny, committed by a person present in an office or on the premises of the Insured,
while the Property is lodged or deposited within offices or premises located anywhere.

Exclusion (h) excludes coverage for

loss caused by an employee, except when covered under Insuring Agreement (A) or when covered under Insuring Agreement (B), (C) or (R) and re-suiting directly from misplacement, mysterious unexplainable disappearance or destruction of or damage to Property.

Banclnsure argues that since the loss at issue is alleged to have resulted from theft, and not from misplacement, mysterious unexplainable disappearance or destruction of or damage to property, then exclusion (h) bars any coverage under Insuring Agreement (B). The Bank, on the other hand, argues that the phrase “and resulting directly from misplacement, mysterious unexplainable disappearance or destruction of or damage to Property” in exclusion (h) only modifies “Insuring Agreement ... (R)” and that exclusion (h) therefore does not bar coverage under Insuring Agreement (B) for losses caused by theft. In the court’s opinion, exclusion (h) unambiguously excludes coverage under Insuring Agreement (B) for loss caused by an employee unless the loss is caused by the “misplacement, mysterious unexplainable disappearance or destruction of or damage to Property.”

Further, to the extent of any loss claimed by the Bank resulting from a loan, extension of credit or transaction involving the Bank as a lender, exclusion (e) forecloses coverage under Insuring Agreement (B). Exclusion (e) bars coverage for:

loss resulting directly or indirectly from the complete or partial non-payment of, or default upon, any Loan or transaction involving the Insured as a lender or borrower, or extension of credit ... whether such Loan, transaction or extension was procured in good faith or through trick, artifice, fraud or false pretenses, except when covered under Insuring Agreement (A), (D), (E), (P) or (Q).4

[581]*581Thus, whether there is coverage for the Bank’s losses from Corban’s misdeeds hinges on Insuring Agreement (A).

Issues 3 & I:

Insuring Agreement (A) of the Bond provides fidelity coverage, protecting the insured against losses resulting from certain dishonest and fraudulent acts of its officers and employees. By its terms, Insuring Agreement (A) provides indemnification for:

(A) Loss resulting directly from dishonest or fraudulent acts committed by an Employee acting alone or in collusion with others.
Such dishonest or fraudulent acts must be committed by the Employee with the manifest intent:
(a) to cause the Insured to sustain such loss, or
(b) to obtain improper financial benefit for the Employee or another person or entity.
However, if some or all of the Insured’s loss results directly or indirectly from Loans, that portion of the loss is not covered unless the Employee was in collusion with one or more parties to the transactions and has received, in connection with these transactions, an improper financial benefit.
As used throughout this Insuring Agreement, financial benefit does not include any employee benefits earned in the normal course of employment, including salaries, commissions, fees, bonuses, promotions, awards, profit sharing or pensions.

The Bank acknowledges that Insuring Agreement (A), as written, limits covered losses resulting from fraudulent or dishonest acts of employees to losses caused by the employee with the manifest intent to cause the Bank to sustain loss or to obtain improper financial benefit for the employee or another person or entity. Also, and more pertinently, in the case of “loan” losses, Insuring Agreement (A), as written, provides no coverage unless there is proof of collusion between the employee and one or more parties to the transaction and the employee received an improper financial benefit in connection with the transaction.

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Bluebook (online)
866 F. Supp. 2d 577, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 44643, 2012 WL 1098547, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bankinsure-inc-v-peoples-bank-of-the-south-mssd-2012.