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This article focuses on the insurance industry in New York and the probe by New York attorney general Eliot Spitzer into misleading and corrupt business practices. In 1905, New York state Sen. William Armstrong headed a probe into the life insurance business that revealed an industry rife with unscrupulous practices, including excessive agent commissions.State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, who exposed widespread fraud on Wall Street and in the mutual fund industry, kicked off the investigation, which now involves several states and multiple companies. Spitzer began by accusing the world's largest insurance broker, Marsh & McLennan, of misleading customers by hiding fees and scheming with insurers to falsely create the appearance of competitive bids. Spitzer's allegations are twofold: that the company misled customers by concealing the true nature of "contingent commissions" it received from insurance companies for awarding them business, and that Marsh cooked up a scheme whereby insurers submitted false bids rigged by the broker. Universal Life Resources of San Diego, which brokers life, accident, and disability insurance programs for companies, is the target of a civil lawsuit filed by a consumer advocate group accusing it of awarding business to companies in exchange for kickbacks.