More than a year after short sellers accused Globe Life Inc. of fraudulent insurance practices, the US Securities and Exchange Commission has closed its investigation into the company and will not pursue enforcement action, according to a disclosure made on July 25.
Globe Life said it received a letter from SEC staff confirming the end of the probe. The company did not clarify the scope of the investigation or whether it was directly tied to the high-profile allegations raised in 2024 by Fuzzy Panda Research and Viceroy Research.
Those reports accused Globe Life’s largest subsidiary, American Income Life (AIL), of forging customer signatures, creating fake policyholders, and issuing fraudulent policies to inflate sales figures. One report also alleged that Globe Life executives were involved in a $43 million kickback scheme. The company’s stock dropped sharply following the reports.
In response, Globe Life launched an independent audit, which it said found no material errors in its financial statements. It later acknowledged receiving an informal inquiry from the SEC in May 2024, though critics – including Viceroy – claimed the company misled investors by initially downplaying the nature and timing of that inquiry.
Globe Life has not provided further comment on those matters.
