Liberty Mutual Sues One of Its Contract Lawyers, Claims ‘Sextortion’ Attempt
A contract lawyer for Liberty Mutual is accused in a civil suit of threatening to expose an insurance executive’s sexual liaisons if he wasn’t paid millions of dollars and given more work.
New York lawyer Michael Devereaux is accused of seeking more than $3 million and at least 25 more cases, the New York Post reports. The New York Daily News puts the figure at $2 million. The Post says the executive was a senior vice president, while the Daily News identifies him as a top agent.
The suit claims the insurer stopped giving work to Devereaux because of excessive billing.
Devereaux denied the claims in interviews with both newspapers. He told the Daily News he is owed $400,000, and he told the Post that if anyone was being extorted, it was him. Devereaux said the agent used his apartment for sexual trysts with several women and borrowed money from him to hire prostitutes.
