Winnipeg couple sues Great West Life, broker

A Winnipeg couple is suing Great West Life and one of its former insurancebrokers,in whose hands hundreds of thousands of dollarsallegedly disappeared.

Lorraine Mignault and her husband, Michel, filed a lawsuit last week against former brokerGary Palmer andGreat West Life in an attempt to recover the money they say they lost.

"We may just have to live to 100, and forget about retiring someday," Lorraine Mignault said Monday.

The Mignaults say they have been planning their retirement for more than 15 years. They had a number of investments for years, but in 1991 they went to Great West Life to consolidate them.

"We decided that we would go with Great West Life, and have all of our plans under the same banner," Mignault said.

She added they chose Great West Liferather than aspecific broker.

Broker moved funds into his own company

The Mignaults invested through Palmer, one of Great West Life'sinsurancebrokers. Incourt documents, they claim Palmer instructed them tomove their money to his own company, JD Raleigh and Company, so that he could reinvest it in Great West Life products.

"We never thought that the money was going to JD Raleigh. We were never asked to invest in JD Raleigh, and we never invested in JD Raleigh," Mignault said.

From 1991until February 2006, the Mignaults say they invested more than $430,000 through Palmer. Today, their records show their balance with Great West Life is $9,559.25.

Winnipeg police confirmed Monday that they are investigating Palmer's activities. As well, police said the Mignaults are not the onlycomplainants they haveheard from.

Palmer, whosebroker's licence has been suspended,was unavailable for comment Monday.

Great West Life had nocomment, other than to describe the case Monday as a matter between an independent broker anda client.

However, the Mignaults saythey met Palmer at Great West Life's head office in Winnipeg, and that all ofthe correspondenceregarding their investmentswas on company letterhead.

Lorraine Mignault saidthe situationis "very disheartening, and it's very shocking."

"I suppose you're thinking, 'Well, you thought that you had your funds with a company that would secure your financial future,' " shesaid.