Released: July 8, 2005

Department of Insurance Fraud Unit investigators accompanied by the State Police Insurance Fraud Unit today served a 43-year-old Kenner insurance producer with a cease & desist order and summary suspension of her license on charges of taking more than $4,800 in company funds from two separate employers, says Commissioner of Insurance Robert Wooley. She was arrested and booked into the Jefferson Parish Correctional Facility on 59 counts of premium theft.

Esther Bonnie Maury is accused of taking premiums from customers of two different insurance companies without remitting those premiums. In 2002 it was discovered that she collected $2,938 in premiums from approximately 63 customers of one insurance company, and in 2004 that she collected $1,915 in premiums from approximately 48 customers of another company.

Department of Insurance records show that Maury held a life & health license from November 1998 until today’s action, and a property & casualty license from September 2002 until May 2005. Her last address on file with the Department of Insurance is 3269 Glen Eagle Lane, Kenner.

Wooley urges consumers who feel uneasy about any insurance-related transaction to call the Department of Insurance Fraud Unit at 225-342-4956 or, toll free, 1-800-259-5300. If callers don’t want their names used, they can request that their involvement be kept confidential.

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