LA. AGENTS SHUT DOWN:

The Louisiana Department of Insurance closed the operations of a Metairie insurance agent on accusations of forgery and misappropriation of insurance premiums. It was the third such shutdown of an agent’s insurance operation in four days, according to Insurance Commissioner Robert Wooley. Department of Insurance Fraud Unit investigators served Mario Guillermo Amaya with a cease and desist order and a summary suspension of all insurance licenses. The order states that Amaya allegedly misappropriated insurance premiums of several thousand dollars and committed forgery by cashing a stolen government check. The DOI order prohibits him from engaging in any activity relating to the business of insurance, effective immediately. DOI records show that Amaya was first issued a life and health license on May 1, 1999, and a property and casualty insurance license a month later. Both licenses were in force until the suspension. Previously, the department investigators pulled the license of a Gonzales agent, and took the same action against a Shreveport agent, Janet Hart Musick. The DOI alleges that Melissa Guillot Robert of Gonzales misappropriated funds and/or issued bogus written statements of insurance coverage on at least four separate occasions in a two-year period. Musick, of Shreveport, was booked into the Caddo Parish Prison for alleged felony theft in excess of $500 and misappropriation of insurance premiums. The order alleges that Musick misappropriated funds and/or issued bogus written statements of insurance coverage on a dozen separate occasions.

Topics Agencies Louisiana