Auditor says probe of La. Citizens was blocked

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Louisiana’s legislative auditor claims his investigators have been blocked in their probe of the state-backed “insurer of last resort” by the group whose staffers perform much of the insurance company’s work.

Steve Theriot said his investigators have been denied access to tax forms, computer records, contracts, payroll records and other records concerning Louisiana Citi-zens Property Insurance Corp. Theriot said in a letter to state Sen. James David Cain that his office “has been advised that some records … are in danger of being altered or lost.”

At issue is a dispute between Theriot and the Property Insurance Association of Louis-iana, an association of property insurers that contracts to perform work for Citizens, which has few employees of its own. Theriot believes that PIAL is subject to state “open meetings” laws, meaning his office should have access to its documents and records.

In May, Theriot asked the state attorney general’s office for a ruling on the matter.

PIAL argues it is a private industry group, not public, and not subject to open meetings laws.

“We are of the opinion that PIAL is not public or quasi-public under any laws,” A.J. Herbert III, a Baton Rouge-based lawyer for PIAL, said in a letter to the attorney general.

Theriot’s office is performing a series of audits on performance at Citizens. Among other things, auditors discovered that Citizens’ is unable to balance several years of bookkeeping. They also found that Citizens lacks paperwork on most of the $300,000 it paid for expenses and consultant services from 2004-06. That money went to PIAL without proper contracts or documents for $187,000 of that money, an audit found.

Cain, R-Dry Creek, chairman of the Senate Insurance Com-mittee, received the letter from Theriot’s office on June 22. He informed colleagues of Theriot’s allegations on the Senate floor.

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