A Times Editorial

The high price of skullduggery

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 23, 2000

During the 1998 campaign, Bankers Insurance Co. of St. Petersburg and its corporate siblings contributed $440,500 to the Florida Republican Party. No other source gave as much. But from then through March 30, the last reporting date, the Bankers group turned positively stingy, giving only $8,000 to the GOP and a smattering of cash to three local politicians.

If they were saving their money, it is now apparent why. Without admitting anything, Bankers is paying $2.55-million to settle the lawsuit filed by Kevin McCarty, a Florida Insurance Department official whom Bankers had targeted with a private investigator. Blaming McCarty for what it perceived as mistreatment by the Joint Underwriting Association, Bankers asked for a "full-blown investigation" into his private life, including any "romantic relationships," and even specified the use of videotapes and photographs. The plot unraveled after a telephone worker found an illegal wiretap on McCarty's phone.

Though the scheme reeked of potential sexual blackmail, Bankers insisted it was looking only for evidence of bias on McCarty's part, which it would have presented to his boss, Insurance Commissioner Bill Nelson. McCarty's lawsuit disposed of that excuse. Case file documents show the company to have been keenly aware of the outrageously personal nature of the investigation.

McCarty was courageous to pursue the suit knowing that it would demolish what was left of his privacy. Nelson deserves credit for backing him. Bankers deserves to explain to an administrative law judge, in proceedings Nelson has filed, why it shouldn't be fined heavily or even put out of business in Florida, for its indecent conduct.

Meanwhile, Tim Ireland, the perennial Republican insurance commissioner candidate whose election was the intended result of Bankers' $440,500, has been dumped by Gov. Jeb Bush and GOP Chairman Al Cardenas, who now favor Tom Gallagher, Nelson's predecessor, to succeed him. McCarty was Gallagher's appointee before he was Nelson's. If Bankers has any money left after settling with McCarty, the party isn't likely to see much of it.

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