Attorney Charged with Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud in Connection with Hurricane Ida Fraud Committed by Law Firm with Louisiana and Texas Offices

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - RICHARD WILLIAM HUYE, III ("HUYE"), age 34, formerly of New Orleans, and now a resident of Texas, was charged by bill of information on August 28, 2026, with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, announced U.S. Attorney David I. Courcelle.

According to the bill of information, HUYE was an attorney licensed to practice law in Louisiana who started working for a Texas based firm ("Law Firm A" in the bill of information) three days after Hurricane Ida struck Southeast Louisiana on August 29, 2021. Law Firm A then opened an office in October of 2021 in New Orleans.

After Hurricane Ida, Law Firm A encouraged an Alabama roofing company to open up operations in Louisiana by advising the roofing company that it could use an "Assignment of Benefits" ("AOB") form without restriction. Contrary to that advice, most Louisiana homeowners' insurance companies had either anti-assignment language in their policies, or the assignments needed prior approval.

Once in the Louisiana market, the Alabama roofing company began to sign up hundreds of homeowners with the AOBs and sent the claims over to Law Firm A for handling. Law Firm A also instructed the Alabama roofing company to sign an attorney retention contract on behalf of the Louisiana homeowners without their knowledge or authorization. As a way around the assignment of benefits restrictions, HUYE, on behalf of Law Firm A and for the benefit of Co-Conspirator 1 (a managing partner for firm) electronically sent out false and misleading letters of representation to hundreds of Louisiana homeowners insurance companies wherein HUYE and Law Firm A claimed that they represented only the insured homeowner and failed to disclose the roofing company AOB. HUYE and Law Firm A made additional fraudulent representations to Louisiana homeowners' insurance companies in other communications, mediations, and court filings in which no mention of the roofing company AOBs was ever made.

The scheme to defraud Louisiana homeowners, and their insurers, surfaced in February 2023 during court proceedings held in the Eastern District of Louisiana. At that time, Law Firm A's counsel admitted both to having sent at least 856 false and misleading letters of representation, and to having settled at least nine matters by mediation without disclosing that Law Firm A only represented the Alabama roofing company via an AOB. HUYE and Law Firm A also filed at least one complaint for damages without the Louisiana homeowner's full consent, in addition to several other complaints for declaratory judgment that falsely stated who Law Firm A actually represented.

The bill of information details the experiences of eight Louisiana homeowners whose property damage claims were impacted by the false and fraudulent actions of HUYE, Law Firm A and Co-Conspirator 1. As a result, most of the named victims either did not receive monies designated to repair their roofs, or had the amount reduced due to the withholding of unauthorized attorney's fees and expenses. In some instances, Co-Conspirator 1 endorsed settlement checks without proper authorization from homeowners, and deposited funds earmarked for their damages into Law Firm A's bank account.

HUYE has been with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 371 and 1343. The maximum penalty for this offense is up to five (5) years imprisonment, up to three years of supervised release, up to a $250,000 fine or twice the gross gain to any defendant or twice the gross loss to any victim, and the payment of a $100 mandatory special assessment fee.

U.S. Attorney Courcelle reiterated that the bill of information is merely a charge and that the guilt of the defendant must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

U.S. Attorney Courcelle would like to acknowledge the tremendous work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Louisiana Department of Insurance, and the Louisiana State Police with this matter. The prosecution of this case is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward J. Rivera, Deputy Chief of the Financial Crimes Unit, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracey N. Knight.

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