Audit Rips Spending By Ex-Chief Of Citizens
by Ed Anderson - Times-Picayune (excerpt)

BATON ROUGE -- The former head of Louisiana's state-run homeowners insurance program charged taxpayers for $106,579 in questionable expenses from 2003 to 2006, including cigars, high-end wining and dining at fancy restaurants, trips, a possible prom party for his daughter and tickets to LSU football games, according to an audit released Monday.

Terry Lisotta, who ran the Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp. before being reassigned and later fired, rang up more than $285,200 in expenses between December 2003 and December 2006, including more than $106,500 that may have been paid twice, or been paid for expenses that were nonexistent or questionable, Legislative Auditor Steve Theriot said in a 30-page audit.

Neither Lisotta nor his attorney could be reached for comment. Lisotta also refused to discuss the findings with auditors and did not submit a written response for Theriot to include in the report, said Dan Daigle, director of compliance audits in Theriot's office.

The audit has been forwarded to U.S. Attorney Jim Letten in New Orleans, state Attorney General Buddy Caldwell, Jefferson Parish District Attorney Paul Connick and the State Board of Ethics.