Charles Foti
BATON ROUGE -- Louisiana Attorney General Charles Foti appears set on spending a legally-active final few weeks as AG before handing the reins to fellow Democrat Buddy Caldwell.
Foti announced Jan. 8 he had filed a second major lawsuit in less than a week, this time against 10 major state insurers over alleged breaches of the Louisiana Monopolies Act. The charges relate to claims the insurers artificially lowered the value of property-damage claims following the 2005 hurricanes.
The AG charges the insurers used this scheme to reap "huge profits" when Hurricanes Rita and Katrina struck New Orleans two-and-a-half years ago.
Last week Foti sued Houston-based oil driller Rowan Companies for unlawfully discharging pollutants into western Louisiana waters from an offshore drilling rig. It also claims Rowan Companies "wrongfully and fraudulently" concealed these discharges from Louisiana authorities.
Rowan Companies admitted to similar charges of concealment in 2004 and was fined over $7 million, $2 million of which was paid to eastern Louisiana.