Following the deaths of two insurance department employees, Louisiana regulators are now reviewing their policies and procedures to investigate into fraud.
Two Insurance Investigators Rhett Jeansonne and Kim Sledge were killed on the 7th of June while they were collecting the case information from an agent in Ville Platte.
The authorities claim that John Melvin Lavergne had shot dead the LDI investigators around 1 p.m. before he could turn the gun on himself. Both the investigators were unarmed.
Over 100 law enforcement officers that included the SWAT team as well as negotiators had surrounded the building for a couple of hours prior to sending in a robot, as per reports from the Associated Press. Pictures of John Melvin Lavergne’s body were taken by the robot and then the SWAT team rushed in only to find him dead due to a self-inflicted wound, stated the State Police.
Jim Donelon, Louisiana Insurance Commissioner stated that Lavergne was not served with any cease and desist order when the shooting took place. He had been served previously and his license had been suspended.
Donelon also added that their investigation that day was only to request and to retrieve files that were related to a couple of additional cases that involved Lavergne that had come up after the issuance of the cease and desist. The order was pending appeal, he stated in a press conference held on the 8th of June.
Donelon also stated that he was requesting that the affected families of the shooting incident, be given a compensation of $250,000. This is a stipend that is given by the state to the families of law enforcement officers who die in the line of duty. In addition to this, the statute also helps in providing scholarships for dependents thatwere of the school-going age.
He also stated that the department wishes to ensure that such incidents don’t happen in future. The first and foremost thing is that he wants their investigation team to be free from any sort of harm while conducting their duties and carrying out investigations.
Lavergne was in business for over 40 years, according to the reports and had been served cease and desist orders, had his license suspended on many occasions, and was fined sometime in 2009 and in 2011 again. While his license suspension was finally lifted by the administrative law judge, the 2009 cease and desist was under appeal, stated Donelon.
