St Paul Travelers was the beneficiary of alleged bid-rigging by Marsh, court documents released after the guilty plea by Marsh senior vice-president Robert Stearns said.

The court papers disclosed an e-mail exchange in which Stearns instructed Marsh broker April Greenwood to solicit a phony bid of $325,000 from Zurich Financial in a move designed to encourage a Marsh client to opt for cover from St Paul Cos, which had submitted a quote of $270,000.

Zurich submitted a quote of $360,000 a day after the Marsh e-mails.

Stearns entered his guilty plea under the bid-rigging and fraud lawsuit filed against Marsh in October by New York attorney general Eliot Spitzer.