By John Fredericks / Staff

In the continuing media saga chronicling Georgia Insurance Commissioner and GOP candidate for governor John Oxendine and his fundraising prowess, the Associated Press has reported that personal friends may have leveraged their relationship with Oxendine to get him involved in an insurance complaint.

But the facts of the case don’t add up — or at the very least have holes big enough to drive the Barnum & Bailey circus caravan through.

Dr. Jeffrey Gallups, an Oxendine associate and Atlanta resident, filed a complaint against Indianapolis Life Insurance Co. in February 2006. Financial disclosure documents show that Gallups and his wife, Nancy, then donated $50,000 to Oxendine’s campaign war chest.

According to e-mails obtained by the AP through Georgia’s Open Records Act, several Oxendine staffers in his insurance department questioned the merits of their office getting involved in the case.

Here we go again. Friends with money donate to their friends‘ campaigns. It’s a simple fact of political life.

In one e-mail, referenced by AP reporter Shannon McCaffrey, Charlie Parr, a department investigator, verified that Gallups was pursuing a separate legal claim against Indianapolis Life. Gallups’ lawsuit alleged the company made false promises about the policies he purchased. According to the AP, court documents showed Gallups sought to recover past paid premiums of more than $2.1 million, with taxes, penalties and interest tacked on.

“We typically stay out of cases involving attorneys and lawsuits, but this case is different because of Commissioner Oxendine’s personal interest,” Parr wrote in the April 7, 2006, e-mail, released by the AP.

Parr also noted that Oxendine was “staying close on this one.”

But one high-ranking insurance commission official, not authorized to talk to the press, said that, “nothing done on this matter was either illegal or uncommon.” The official said the Gallupses became friends with the Oxendines, and may have asked the commissioner to take a look into the matter, as it involved potential wrongdoing by the insurance company. “This is not uncommon in the natural course of business relationships,” the official stated.

According to Oxendine, the commissioner’s office at first encouraged mediation between the Gallupses and Indianapolis Life. “From the beginning to the end, we encouraged the Gallups and Indianapolis Life to mediate their differences,” a department staffer commented.

“The market conduct investigation was the result of several complaints and inquiries the department received concerning Indianapolis Life. Other states were conducting market conduct examinations against Indianapolis Life. The Gallups came to us prior to any lawsuits. They came to us and said they believed the company had misrepresented their product,” the senior official said.

A Georgia Insurance Commission market conduct investigation may result in hefty fines, but offer no gain to the claimant.

“If an insurance company is misrepresenting their products or services, we commence a market conduct probe. That’s what we do. Lawsuits are not our concern. Our job is to make sure the consumer is treated fairly,” a department official reiterated.

When asked about Oxendine’s personal interest in the case, the senior official explained it this way: “My boss [Oxendine] only asked us for a status update, as he does on occasion. If you’ve worked for him, you know he’s hands-on.”

Department communications chief Glenn Allen said the market conduct examination is ongoing. Both he and Oxendine declined comment on the staff e-mails.

According to the AP, months after the department’s investigation began, “contributions began pouring in from Gallups to Oxendine. Gallups and his wife Nancy have contributed $50,000 to Oxendine since 2006. Gallups also bankrolled a 2007 trip by the insurance commissioner and his wife to the Oscars in Los Angeles. Oxendine has said he reimbursed Gallups for the Oscar trip but declined to provide proof.”

Oxendine told the AP in December that his office instigated the probe of Indianapolis Life after receiving “several, probably five or six” complaints from Georgia consumers who claimed they were wronged by the company.

Documents provided to the AP after a request for all complaints related to Indianapolis Life revealed “only the Gallups’ complaint dated Feb. 12, 2006.”

But court records show a different story. Gallups joined in as a plaintiff a month after another lawsuit against Indianapolis Life was launched by John and Catherine Phillips in October 2006. The lawsuit is still making its way through the court system.

The AP reported last December that Gallups was referred to Oxendine by the office of U.S. Rep. Tom Price. In a Feb. 23 e-mail, Oxendine’s then-secretary Vonnie Stewart called Gallups.

Brendan Buck, D.C. Communications Director for Price, said the Congressman’s office could not find a record of having referred Gallups to Oxendine. But Buck told the AP he could not say for certain that the referral had not taken place.

The lead investigator, Cris Campos, turned the file over to Parr and placed a Post-it note on it that read, “hot file.” Sources say Campos was concerned that fraud may be involved, and wanted the case followed-up on.

“We use Post-it-notes here,” said Allen. “They help us prioritize our work.”