Hurricane Ida made landfall in southeast Louisiana on August 29, 2021. Three days later, according to federal court documents, Richard William Huye III joined a law firm that prosecutors say would soon defraud hundreds of Ida victims.
Huye, 34, was charged on August 28 with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, the American Press reported. He was formerly based in New Orleans and now lives in Texas. The charge is the first criminal filing from a years-long investigation into McClenny Moseley & Associates (MMA). Louisiana regulators described the Houston-based firm in 2023 as responsible for one of the most egregious insurance fraud schemes in state history. Huye faces up to five years in prison if convicted.
Prosecutors allege the fraud did not target insurers directly. It targeted homeowners.
An Alabama roofing company signed Hurricane Ida victims to agreements transferring their insurance claim rights to the contractor, according to the American Press report. Regulatory records identify that company as Apex Roofing and Restoration. Those assignment-of-benefits (AOB) agreements gave the roofing company standing to pursue the claims, which it then passed to MMA.
From there, prosecutors allege, MMA told insurers it represented the homeowners themselves, without disclosing its relationship with the roofing company. The firm sent at least 856 false or misleading letters of representation to insurance companies. In some cases, a managing partner signed homeowners' names on settlement checks without permission and deposited the proceeds into the firm's own account.
The federal charging document describes eight Louisiana homeowners whose claims were affected. Most either received nothing intended to repair their roofs, or had their settlements reduced by attorney fees and expenses they had never authorized.
Louisiana regulators moved against MMA in February 2023, when then-insurance commissioner Jim Donelon issued an emergency cease-and-desist order. Donelon announced $2 million in fines against MMA, Huye, and founding partners James McClenny and John Moseley three months later. Each received the maximum $500,000 penalty.
"The illegal insurance scheme perpetrated by McClenny Moseley & Associates is frankly one of the most egregious cases that has ever come through this department," Donelon said at the time.
The Louisiana Supreme Court suspended Huye from practicing law in March 2023 and ordered him to produce a client list. MMA had entered contingency-fee contracts with thousands of Louisiana residents after Hurricane Ida, according to the report. A special trustee was appointed to return client files and help former clients find new representation.
The administrative penalties did not hold. In January 2025, a Louisiana administrative law judge ruled the Department of Insurance lacked jurisdiction to issue its fines and cease-and-desist orders. Current insurance commissioner Tim Temple publicly rejected that conclusion.
The federal charge represents a separate criminal proceeding. It does not revive the administrative penalties, but it bypasses the jurisdictional constraint that blocked state regulators.
The MMA case illustrates something that recurs after major catastrophe events. The more disorganized the claims environment, the more opportunity third parties find to insert themselves between policyholders and their settlements. AOB arrangements are legal in Louisiana, but the MMA scheme, as alleged, used them as cover to operate without the policyholder's knowledge or consent.
Legal system abuse has remained a structural problem in Louisiana's insurance market well beyond the MMA case. In July, the Insurance Information Institute flagged AOB misuse and claim fraud as persistent cost drivers in the state's property and casualty market. The analysis noted that legal system abuse continues to inflate premiums even as Louisiana recorded its first broad rate reduction this decade.
The federal bill of information also describes an unidentified co-conspirator referred to as a managing partner, according to the American Press. Prosecutors have not indicated whether additional charges are forthcoming.
