Agent Loses License for Misappropriating Insurers Funds
Post 5254
See the video at https://lnkd.in/gPpkx-np and at https://lnkd.in/g7AidnXS, and at https://zalma.com/blog plus more than 5250 posts.
Insurance Agent Fraud Fails
In Rochell Provost v. State Of Louisiana Division Of Administrative Law And Louisiana Department Of Insurance, No. 2025 CA 0492, Court of Appeals of Louisiana, First Circuit (December 19, 2025) the Louisiana Department of Insurance (LDI) successfully appealed a district court judgment that reinstated Rochell Provost’s insurance producer license and reversed a $5,000 fine previously assessed against her.
FACTUAL BACKGROUND
The underlying dispute began when Union National Life Insurance Company/Kemper Life terminated Ms. Provost for cause, alleging she had committed fraudulent activity and misappropriated $31,471.39 in company funds. An investigative report supporting these findings was sent to LDI.
Following receipt of the report, LDI notified Ms. Provost of proposed regulatory action concerning the collection and failure to deposit insurance premiums. The Commissioner of Insurance proposed suspending or revoking her license and gave Ms. Provost the opportunity to respond. When no response was received, LDI formally revoked her license and imposed the fine, advising her of her right to an administrative appeal.
The district court initially reinstated Ms. Provost’s license and reversed the fine, but LDI appealed this decision.
THE APPEAL
Ms. Provost appealed, arguing the allegations were false and attributing her inability to deposit premiums to computer software issues and alleged workplace vendettas. The administrative law hearing was conducted telephonically with testimony from LDI’s Office of Insurance Fraud personnel about their investigation.
ANALYSIS AND STANDARD OF REVIEW
The Louisiana Administrative Procedure Act (the “Act”) governs the judicial review of a final decision in an agency adjudication. The exclusive grounds upon which an administrative agency’s decision may be reversed or modified on appeal is codified at La. R.S. 49:978.1(G).
The court may affirm the decision of the agency or remand the case for further proceedings. The court may reverse or modify the decision if substantial rights of the appellant have been prejudiced because the administrative findings, inferences, conclusions, or decisions are:
In violation of constitutional or statutory provisions;
In excess of the statutory authority of the agency;
Made upon unlawful procedure;
Affected by other error of law;
Arbitrary or capricious or characterized by abuse of discretion or clearly unwarranted exercise of discretion; or
Not supported and sustainable by a preponderance of the evidence as determined by the reviewing court. In the application of this rule, the court shall make its own determination and conclusions of fact by a preponderance of evidence based upon its own evaluation of the record reviewed in its entirety upon judicial review. In the application of the rule, where the agency has the opportunity to judge the credibility of witnesses by first-hand observation of demeanor on the witness stand and the reviewing court does not, due regard shall be given to the agency’s determination of credibility issues.
Any one of the six bases listed in the Act is sufficient to modify or reverse an agency determination. An administrative agency’s conclusion is “capricious” when it has no substantial evidence to support it. Likewise, the word “arbitrary” implies a disregard of evidence or the proper weight thereof.
The proceedings and findings of an administrative agency are presumed to be legitimate and correct. The burden of proof is on the appellant to demonstrate any grounds for reversal or modification.
Pursuant to Louisiana Revised Statutes 22:1554(A), the Commissioner of Insurance may revoke an insurance producer license, or may levy a fine, or any combination of these actions.
On appeal, LDI asserted that its revocation of Ms. Provost’s license and assessment of a fine was neither arbitrary nor capricious, and in fact was supported by a preponderance of the evidence. After an independent review of the administrative record, the Court of Appeals agreed.
The Court of Appeals reversed the district court’s judgment, upholding the administrative revocation and fine. The case centered on statutory interpretation of the insurance code, the sufficiency of evidence regarding alleged misappropriation, and administrative due process related to notice and opportunity to be heard.
The Court of Appeals reversed the district court’s September 2, 2025 amended judgment granting Rochell Provost’s Petition for Judicial Review by Trial De Novo and reinstated the Division of Administrative Law’s decision and order dated January 19, 2024, affirming the LDI’s revocation of insurance producer license number 639650, issued to Rochell Provost, and assessment of a $5,000.00 fine.
ZALMA OPINION
Ms. Provost’s actions and appeal revealed an extreme type of “Chutzpah” (Yiddish for unmitigated gall) by first stealing from the insurer she represented as an agent by keeping the premiums she collected and then claiming it was all due to software difficulties. She convinced the trial court only to have her actions reviewed by the Court of Appeals who affirmed the actions of the LDI.
(c) 2025 Barry Zalma & ClaimSchool, Inc.
Please tell your friends and colleagues about this blog and the videos and let them subscribe to the blog and the videos.
Subscribe to my substack at https://barryzalma.substack.com/subscribe
Go to X @bzalma; Go to Barry Zalma videos at Rumble.com at https://rumble.com/account/content?type=all; Go to Barry Zalma on YouTube- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCysiZklEtxZsSF9DfC0Expg; Go to the InsuranceClaims Library – https://lnkd.in/gwEYk.
The Largest Residential Burglary of All Time
Post 5407
Fraud & the Fear of Bad Faith Suits
Posted on July 22, 2026 by Barry Zalma
See the full video at https://lnkd.in/gWQQEySW and at https://lnkd.in/gyhdK6wv
This is a Fictionalized True Crime Story of Insurance Fraud explaining why Insurance Fraud is a “Heads I Win, Tails You Lose” situation for Insurers. The story is one of a collection designed to help to Understand How Insurance Fraud in America is Costing Everyone who Buys Insurance Thousands of Dollars Every year and Why Insurance Fraud is Safer and More Profitable for the Perpetrators than any Other Crime.
This is a Fictionalized True Crime Story of Insurance Fraud explaining why Insurance Fraud is a “Heads I Win, Tails You Lose” situation for Insurers. The story is one of a collection designed to help to Understand How Insurance Fraud in America is Costing Everyone who Buys Insurance Thousands of Dollars Every year and Why Insurance Fraud is Safer and More Profitable for the Perpetrators than any Other Crime.
After ...
Chutzpah is not Enough
Post 5397
Posted on July 20, 2026 by Barry Zalma
See the video and at https://lnkd.in/gNUs2XzT and at https://lnkd.in/g2MawyzX
Magistrate Issues a Search Warrant if there is a Fair Probability that Contraband or Evidence of a Crime will be Found in a Particular Place.
In United States Of America v. Frank Suess, et al., CRIMINAL No. 3:24-308, United States District Court, M.D. Pennsylvania (July 16, 2026) a federal grand jury indicted Frank Suess, Melissa Driscoll, and others in a 55-count health care fraud and anti-kickback prosecution arising from an alleged scheme involving medically unnecessary prescription “foot baths.”
As part of the investigation, the FBI obtained an August 19, 2022 warrant to search Driscoll’s Sterling Pharmacy Yahoo email account for emails from January 1, 2018 through December 31, 2020. Driscoll moved to suppress the resulting evidence, arguing that the warrant lacked probable cause, was overbroad, and rested on material misstatements and omissions.
LAW:
The ...
Fraud Shouldn’t Pay
Post 5396
See the video and at https://rumble.com/v7ctgmq-the-great-jewel-theft.html at https://youtu.be/aRbQ2sJfGwA
This is a Fictionalized True Crime Story of Insurance Fraud explaining why Insurance Fraud is a “Heads I Win, Tails You Lose” situation for Insurers. The story is one of a collection designed to help to Understand How Insurance Fraud in America is Costing Everyone who Buys Insurance Thousands of Dollars Every year and Why Insurance Fraud is Safer and More Profitable for the ¬¬¬Perpetrators than any Other Crime.
The Insured purchased, for the first time in his life, a policy of Personal Articles Floater Insurance (PAF) scheduling $125,000 worth of ladies jewelry. He advised the insurer that the jewelry was always kept in a class E safe at his residence. He also told the insurer that he was employed full time as the owner of a gasoline service station and that he had never been canceled or suffered a previous loss.
One month after the policy was ...
Day Care Owner Loses Subsidies Because She Criticized State
Post 5421
Posted on August 11, 2026 by Barry Zalma
First Amendment Right Will be Allowed to Go to Trial
In Betsey J. Grant v. Maine State Department Of Heath And Human Services, No. 1:25-cv-00490-JAW, United States District Court, D. Maine (August 6, 2026), Betsey J. Grant, a licensed childcare provider and operator of Tiny Tikes Daycare in Trenton, Maine, sued Maine DHHS and several employees after she publicly criticized DHHS before Maine’s Government Oversight Committee and alleged that officials retaliated against her.
She claimed DHHS imposed and extended a conditional license, published stigmatizing information, interfered with subsidies and program funding, removed her from a food program, rescinded an expansion grant, and used biased or falsified evidence in licensing proceedings. Following the March 10, 2023, GOC testimony, Ms. Grant alleges that foster children's subsidies (approximately $30,000) were withheld; she was removed from the ...
Rescission for Material Misrepresentation
Post 5418
Posted on August 5, 2026 by Barry Zalma
An Insurer May Rescind An Insurance Policy Where The Applicant Made A Material Misrepresentation In The Application.
In Union Mutual Fire Insurance Company v. 844 Knickerbocker, LLC, et al. No. 2024-10359, Index No. 602824/22, 2026 NY Slip Op 04789, Supreme Court of New York, Second Department (July 29, 2026) Union Mutual Fire Insurance Company issued commercial insurance policies to 844 Knickerbocker, LLC, and Sanjaya Mallick based on applications stating that the insured property contained two apartment units. After an underlying personal injury action was filed, Union Mutual determined that the property actually contained three apartment units and rescinded the policies on the ground that the defendants had made a material misrepresentation in the applications.
LAW:
A misrepresentation is material if the insurer would not have issued the same policy, or would have issued it only on different terms, had the true ...
Rescission for Material Misrepresentation
Post 5418
Posted on August 5, 2026 by Barry Zalma
An Insurer May Rescind An Insurance Policy Where The Applicant Made A Material Misrepresentation In The Application.
In Union Mutual Fire Insurance Company v. 844 Knickerbocker, LLC, et al. No. 2024-10359, Index No. 602824/22, 2026 NY Slip Op 04789, Supreme Court of New York, Second Department (July 29, 2026) Union Mutual Fire Insurance Company issued commercial insurance policies to 844 Knickerbocker, LLC, and Sanjaya Mallick based on applications stating that the insured property contained two apartment units.
LAW:
A misrepresentation is material if the insurer would not have issued the same policy, or would have issued it only on different terms, had the true facts been disclosed. To establish materiality as a matter of law, the insurer must submit documentation of its underwriting practices, such as manuals, guidelines, bulletins, or rules addressing similar risks.
DISCUSSION/ANALYSIS:
As a result, the...
