Cooper
I spent 2 years working for a world-class scam artist while employed at the Executive Life Insurance Company in west Los Angeles in 1986. The company was run by Fred Carr who had taken it over in 1974 and brought it back from the edge of oblivion. He had managed to turn things around with an influx of cash from his close friend Michael Milken and by offering investors a series of annuity products that guaranteed an annual return of 12 to 14 percent. Typical returns at that time for similar products from other companies ranged from 1 to 3 percent. In addition, Carr paid commissions and provided perks to insurance brokers and sales people that were unmatched by any other company. In 10 years the company's net assets had gone from bankruptcy to $19 billion and it became the largest insurance company in California. Fred Carr created unique products that violated the spirit of insurance industry regulatory constraints but technically were still legal. Carr was