Edward Hutton Netherland

Ed Netherland, a prominent local insurance executive, was found dead on Tuesday in the U.S. Virgin Islands, the victim of an apparent robbery gone wrong at his remote rental house on St. John. As part of his involvement with an economic development program in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Netherland spent at least six months of the year there. For at least the last decade, Netherland had marketed creative insurance plans that combined financial instruments with life insurance policies. Some of the plans, called LILAC for "life insurance life annuity combination," were investor-owned intruments that held life insurance policies on, for example, wealthy donors to charities. As recently as this year, Netherland was marketing a scheme to insure all Pasco County, Florida, school district employees with free life insurance. Netherland was a longtime associate of Ira Brody, the Murfreesboro businessman who sought the state treasurer's post in 2009. Brody ultimately did not get the job as concerns over undisclosed lawsuits sank his candidacy. In 2010, Brody was sued by Concord Capital, the firm that he and Netherland were associated with, for running what was described as a "criminal campaign." Concord -- formerly known as Inscap -- made money off complex insurance transactions. Brody and Netherland were later the subject of a 2012 fraud lawsuit. Fifth Third Bank was complicit in the fraud, according to the suit, and continued to extend Netherland, and Brody lines of credit even after they went deep into debt multiple times.