FBI NOTIFIED OF BRIBERY ALLEGATIONS

Citizens Property Insurance has alerted the FBI that its former chief operating officer may have solicited bribes from companies doing business with the state-run insurer. Sources close to the investigation told The Miami Herald that attorney Marco Jimenez notified federal investigators about the allegations against R. Paul Hulsebusch, who resigned from the agency after the charges surfaced.

“In an abundance of caution, we wanted to make sure that we got to the bottom of the allegations and allowed the internal investigators the authority to involve law enforcement as they deem necessary,” Justin Glover, Citizens’ spokesman said.

Citizens hired Jimenez, a former U.S. attorney in Miami, and forensic accounting firm Lewis B. Freeman & Partners of Miami after Florida Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher ordered a criminal investigation.

Documents obtained by the Herald show Hulsebusch, along with two other Citizens executives, planned to form two companies to do business with Citizens while still employed by the agency, in violation of Citizens’ conflict of interest policy. The other executives, Jessica Buss and Corey Neal, resigned in August.