Former Jefferson Parish Administrator, Agency Owner Agrees to $10K Ethics Fine

September 26, 2013

Tim Whitmer, the former Jefferson Parish, Louisiana administrator whose private insurance work led to a corruption scandal that toppled Parish President Aaron Broussard’s administration, has agreed to a state ethics fine of $10,000.

The Times-Picayune reports Whitmer and his company, Lagniappe Industries, received commissions on insurance policies that the company sold to parish contractors while Whitmer was Broussard’s chief administrative officer.

Whitmer resigned from the job in 2009 as federal investigators began subpoenaing records of his private company’s insurance work with government agencies in Louisiana.

Broussard is now serving 46 months in prison on corruption charges. Whitmer pleaded guilty but was placed on probation.

The ethics charges against Whitmer include his solicitation of cash gifts from parish employees for Broussard in addition to the illicit insurance commissions.

The Times-Picayune previously reported that Lagniappe Industries allegedly participated in contracts for insurance plans for employees of the town of Kenner, which is located in Jefferson Parish, as well.

As a result of the investigation, letters were sent in 2010 to more than 400 companies that make money on community contracts asking whether they also bought insurance from the agency owned by Whitmer.

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