NOLHGA Welcomes Capitol Steps to Annual Meeting
The Capitol Steps, a comedy troupe made up of current and former congressional staffers, will perform at NOLHGA’s 19th Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. The Steps will appear after a reception on the evening of October 31.
The troupe, which has been performing political satire for more than 20 years, has appeared on “Good Morning America,” “The Today Show,” and “20/20” and has recorded more than 20 albums. The Capitol Steps have also appeared on National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered” and have been profiled in The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, and The Los Angeles Times. Larry King has praised the group, saying, “They’re the best. There’s no one like them, no one in their league.”
NOLHGA’s 19th Annual Meeting will be held October 31 and November 1, 2002, at the Monarch Hotel in Washington, D.C.; an MPC meeting will take place on October 30. More information on the Annual Meeting will appear in the Wire in the coming weeks, and the meeting Web page should be on-line in early to mid July.
Staff Contact - Sean McKenna American Chambers Life Insurance Company (Ohio)Task Force To Meet in Chicago
The American Chambers Task Force is scheduled to meet in Chicago on July 11, 2002, to finalize its Lessons Learned Report and deal with a variety of health claim wrap-up issues. A full report on these matters will be made to the MPC in August.
Task Force Chair - Chuck Gullickson; Staff Contact - National Heritage Life Insurance Company (Del.)Weiss Remains in Florida Jail
Sholam Weiss returned earlier this month to the Orlando federal courthouse where he was tried three years ago for crimes associated with the multi-million dollar looting of National Heritage Life Insurance Company.
Weiss fled the country before a verdict was returned in his 1999 trial; he was later found guilty and sentenced in absentia to 845 years in jail, the longest federal prison sentence ever imposed. Weiss was arrested in Austria more than a year later, where he successfully fought the United States’s efforts to extradite him and remained free on bond while awaiting trial in Austria. However, in February 2002 Weiss was arrested again and returned to an Austrian jail when U.S. and Austrian authorities determined that the $1.6 million in assets Weiss had posted as bail was “tainted” by being connected to the looting of National Heritage Life. Ultimately, U.S. officials negotiated Weiss’s extradition by agreeing to drop the obstruction of justice count (which accounted for five years of his sentence) against him because Austria does not recognize this crime.
Weiss’s Orlando court appearance this month was an initial appearance on the bench warrant issued by the presiding trial judge three years ago. According to the Orlando Sentinel, prosecutors will ask the judge to re-sentence Weiss, who forfeited his right to appeal the original sentence when he fled the United States in 1999.
Other issues raised during the June 10 hearing included arguments by Weiss’s attorney, Sam Burnstyn, that U.S. and Austrian officials colluded to violate Austrian law and a U.S./Austria treaty. Additionally, Burnstyn argued that federal agents kidnapped Weiss from Austria and that the U.S. courts do not have jurisdiction over Weiss. Federal prosecutors in turn filed a motion to remove Burnstyn from the case due to a conflict of interest based upon his representation of Weiss’s cousin in a related matter. Meanwhile, Weiss remains in the Seminole County Jail.
Task Force Chair - Dan Orth; Staff Contact -Legal Seminar Registration Deadline Nears
The deadline for registering for NOLHGA’s 11th Annual Legal Seminar, which will be held at the Drake Hotel in Chicago on August 15 and 16, 2002, is July 10. Registration forms are available on the Legal Seminar Web page; anyone also attending the MPC meeting on August 13 and 14 (see below) will need to register separately for that meeting.
The Legal Seminar program includes William F. Kroener III, general counsel of the FDIC, who will discuss the role of the FDIC in the financial services world; Michael S. Helfer (president of Nationwide Strategic Investments) and Wayne F. White (president of Home Mutual Fire Insurance Company) speaking on practical business perspectives of the optional federal charter; and Professor Richard A. Epstein of the University of Chicago Law School, who will give the keynote luncheon address. Other presentations will focus on special purpose vehicles, risk issues for the insurance industry, long-term care, and other timely topics.
The deadline for making hotel reservations at the Drake Hotel is also July 10. To make reservations, contact the Drake Hotel at 312.787.2200, and be sure to mention “NOLHGA” to ensure the room rate of $181 a night; this rate will be honored from August 10-18.
For additional information, please visit the Legal Seminar Web page or contact Meg Melusen at 703.787.4130 or [email protected].
Staff Contact -August MPC Meeting Web Page Available Next Week
The Web page for the next MPC meeting, which will be held August 13 and 14, 2002, at the Drake Hotel in Chicago, will go on-line next week. Registered and prospective attendees will be notified by e-mail when the Web page is up and running.
The meeting Web page will include a preliminary schedule with information on committee and task force meetings as well as the MPC general session. It will also include a link to register for the meeting. Until the page is operational, anyone wishing to register for the August MPC meeting should go to the NOLHGA Web site’s Calendar section, click on the “Details” link for the August MPC meeting, and then click on the “Registration Available” link to fill out the registration form. If you are attending the Legal Seminar being held August 15 and 16, you will need to register separately for that event.
The deadline for making hotel reservations for the MPC meeting and the Legal Seminar is July 10. To make reservations, contact the Drake Hotel at 312.787.2200, and be sure to mention “NOLHGA” to ensure the room rate of $181 a night; this rate will be honored from August 10-18.
If you have any questions about the meeting, please contact Karen Early at 703.787.4101 or [email protected].
Staff Contact -No Wire Next Week
The NOLHGA office will be closed July 4 and 5 next week in honor of Independence Day. There will be no NOLHGA Wire next Friday.
Staff Contact - Sean McKenna