Louisiana Insurance Agent Arrested on Fraud Charges

May 12, 2021

A Louisiana insurance agent was arrested on May 10, following an investigation by Louisiana State Police into allegations of insurance fraud.

The Louisiana Department of Insurance had revoked the property/casualty producer license of Matthew Sias in September 2020, for allegedly misappropriating premium funds. He was fined $1,500

In its September 2020 cease and desist order, the LDI said Sias, the owner of MSJ INS LLC (MSJ) in Lafayette Parish, is alleged to have misappropriated insurance premium on more than one occasion between December 2019 through September 2020.

According to investigators, Sias accepted premium payments from multiple clients but failed to remit their premiums, resulting in cancellations of their policies. Sias and MSJ have been previously issued regulatory actions for similar activity.

According to the C&D order, some of the premiums were paid after the customers found they had no insurance in effect.

The LSP arrested Sias on two arrest warrants for three counts of producer fraud, four counts of felony theft and one count of automobile insurance fraud.

He was booked into the Lafayette Parish Correctional Center.