Alexandria bail bondsman freed on bond after arrest
By Robert Morgan
rmorgan@thetowntalk.com
(318) 487-6313
A bail bondsman facing as many as 1,160 years in prison if convicted and sentenced on all counts against him is free on $20,000 bond following his arrest Monday.
Wayne Anthony Thomas, 36, of 261 McKeithen Drive, Alexandria, was arrested by the Louisiana State Police Insurance Fraud Unit on 124 counts of theft of more than $500 and 108 counts of violating the insurance protection law.
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According to a State Police release, each of the 232 counts carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
“The State Police investigation began in March after the Louisiana Department of Insurance forwarded a complaint alleging Thomas had written and accepted payment for bonds but never remitted the payments back to the bail bonding company’s home office. Bail bonding is an act of insurance and is therefore monitored by the Louisiana Department of Insurance,” the release stated.
Larry Zerangue, owner of Zereangue Bail Bonds in Opelousas and Thomas’ employer, said he filed the complaint with the Department of Insurance.
Zerangue, interviewed by telephone, estimated Thomas and his employees had written more than $250,000 in bail bonds which were not reported to the company before he reported the possible thefts.
Saying he was not at his office, Zerangue could offer only estimates of the impact the alleged thefts had on his business.
He said there was no effect on the people who were bonded out of jail “... because I went ahead and took care of the bonds.”
“The problem we had, he was a good agent when we hired him, he hired two people under him,” Zerangue said.
He alleged that Thomas kept the bond payments made to his employees as well as those made to him.
Zerangue said the problems came to light when Thomas allegedly failed to keep up with the reports of his activities that were expected.
“He wasn’t turning in reports the way he should have. He started slacking off,” Zerangue said.
After allegedly making excuses for not turning in reports or making incomplete reports and avoiding Zerangue, Thomas left the remaining bail bond materials at a business for Zerangue to retrieve.
Subsequent to that, Zerangue said he notified the bonding companies affected by Thomas’ alleged actions and notified the Department of Insurance.
The Opelousas bonding company assisted State Police by “providing investigators with the detailed records needed to document the theft and fraud,” the release said.
Thomas surrendered to State Police at the Rapides Parish Jail Monday.
