Fifteen former brokers for Metropolitan Investment Securities Inc. have been charged with making unsuitable financial recommendations to thousands of Pacific Northwest residents.

The state Department of Financial Institutions said that from 2001 to 2003, the brokers sold more than $162 million worth of Metropolitan Mortgage and Securities Co. Inc. and Summit Securities Inc. investments to people who were misled about the risks involved.

The brokers targeted older, unsophisticated investors with limited assets who needed low-risk investments to sustain them during their retirement years, the agency said.

Relying on the advice of their brokers, many of these consumers put their life savings in risky investments, the agency said.

In filing the civil charges Thursday, Financial Institutions said it intends to revoke or suspend the securities licenses of many of the brokers, censure others and seek fines.

"Brokers have an independent duty to make sure that their investment recommendations are suitable," said Helen Howell, agency director. "We believe that these brokers ignored that duty by recommending Metropolitan and Summit securities and abused the trust of some of our most vulnerable citizens."

Met Mortgage and Summit filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February. The two companies owe an estimated $583 million, mostly to 16,000 small investors in the Pacific Northwest who bought notes and preferred stock. Met Mortgage once was a $2.7 billion conglomerate of insurance companies and investment services.

Charges were filed against: Gordon E. Adams, Walla Walla; Suzanne T. Adams, Walla Walla; Elizabeth Adams Armstrong, Beaverton, Ore.; Ross E. Bruner, Woodinville; Steve F. Haug, Vancouver, Wash.; Gary T. Hundeby, University Place; Lori L. Masterson, Greenacres; Ronald H. Mayfield, Spokane; Michael H. McMillen, White Salmon; Theodore R. Metoyer, Spokane; Lamar J. Miller, Veradale; Annette O. Miller, Veradale; Randal M. Saccomanno, Deer Park; Ronald J. Saccomanno, Spokane; Ryan S. Saccomanno, Spokane.

Mayfield said he knew nothing about the state's action until contacted by a reporter.

"I have no statement because I haven't seen anything," he said Thursday.

Telephone messages left at the listings for Gordon Adams, Armstrong, Bruner, Haug and Hundeby were not immediately returned. McMillen's phone rang busy. Telephone listings for the others were not available.

The companies are the subject of investigations by DFI and numerous other authorities, including the Securities and Exchange Commission.

MIS was shut down last December when the financial woes of its parent companies were mounting. The investment business was created as the sole way for Met Mortgage and its affiliates to sell securities to the public.

Scott Cordell, spokesman for Western United Life Assurance Co., a subsidiary of Met Mortgage, said the brokerage no longer exists and would not be able to defend the brokers.

"They are pretty much on their own to handle their defense," Cordell said.

The charges contend the brokers sold debentures, investment certificates and preferred stock while the financial condition of Metropolitan and Summit was deteriorating.

The brokers emphasized only the safety and soundness of the investments, while disregarding the companies' reported losses and insufficient earnings to cover existing debts, the charges said.

The brokers can request a hearing, the agency said.

The agency is also sending letters to several former MIS brokers not named in the charges to remind them of their obligation to make suitable recommendations. DFI is also sending letters to brokerage firms who employ former MIS brokers, urging the employers to closely supervise the sales practices of the former MIS brokers.

"Our primary goal is to protect the investing public from any threat of future wrongdoing by these brokers," said Michael Stevenson, director of DFI's Securities Division.

Metropolitan, Summit, MIS, and certain officers of these entities are also named as defendants in private lawsuits, including numerous class-action suits.

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