Hurricane Ida left behind splintered roofs and flooded neighborhoods across southeast Louisiana in 2021. According to federal prosecutors, it also left behind an opportunity — one a Texas-based attorney allegedly seized to help orchestrate what authorities describe as the largest home insurance fraud scheme the state has seen in Ida's aftermath.

The Charge Against Huye

Richard William Huye III, 34, now faces a single count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, laid out in a bill of information filed Friday in New Orleans' federal courthouse. It's the first criminal charge to emerge from a lengthy investigation into McClenny Moseley and Associates, a law firm that drew intense scrutiny for how it recruited thousands of storm-victimized homeowners as clients — some of whom, prosecutors say, were defrauded out of their insurance payouts or saw those payouts unfairly shrunk.

A Charging Method That Often Signals Cooperation

Notably, prosecutors chose to charge Huye through a bill of information rather than seeking a grand jury indictment — a procedural choice that, in federal court, frequently signals a defendant's intent to plead guilty and cooperate with investigators pursuing other targets connected to the case. Nothing has been confirmed yet about how Huye plans to resolve the charge against him.

How the Scheme Allegedly Began

According to the bill of information, Huye joined MMA — identified in the document only as "law firm A" — just three days after Category 4 Ida tore through southeast Louisiana in late August 2021. By October of that year, he had reportedly opened an MMA office in New Orleans, where he was living at the time, while the firm simultaneously encouraged an Alabama-based roofing company, Apex, to begin operating in Louisiana.

The Assignment of Benefits Loophole

Prosecutors allege MMA advised Apex that it could use assignment of benefits forms, allowing the roofing company to seek payment directly from homeowners' insurers without meaningful restriction. There was just one problem: most Louisiana homeowner policies explicitly prohibit such assignments, or require prior insurer approval before they're valid — a detail the scheme allegedly sidestepped entirely, according to a statement from the office of David Courcelle, the U.S. attorney in New Orleans.

Apex allegedly moved quickly, signing up hundreds of homeowners using these assignment forms and funneling them to MMA for handling. The law firm is also accused of directing the roofing company to sign a legal services retention contract on homeowners' behalf — without those homeowners ever knowing about or authorizing the arrangement.

Letters That Concealed the Real Client

Huye, prosecutors allege, personally transmitted "false and misleading letters of representation" to hundreds of Louisiana homeowners' insurance companies, claiming that he and MMA represented only the insured homeowner — while never disclosing the firm's actual role in the Apex assignment arrangements. Courcelle's office further alleges that MMA and Huye made additional fraudulent representations across other communications, mediations and court filings, with the roofing company's involvement never mentioned in any of them.

A Scheme First Uncovered in Civil Court

The scheme attributed to Huye, MMA, and an individual identified in Friday's filing only as "co-conspirator 1" — whose description matches MMA managing partner Zach Moseley — first came to light through federal civil court proceedings in 2023.

During those earlier proceedings, MMA's own counsel acknowledged the firm had sent at least 856 legal letters falsely claiming to represent homeowners, when in reality the firm was acting on behalf of the roofing company. MMA also admitted to settling at least nine matters through mediation without ever disclosing that underlying conflict, according to Courcelle's office.

Additional Filings Made Without Full Consent

Beyond the mediations, Huye and MMA allegedly filed at least one demand for damages on behalf of a Louisiana homeowner without obtaining that homeowner's full consent, along with several additional complaints for declaratory judgment that misrepresented who the firm actually represented.

Eight Homeowners at the Center of the Case

The bill of information against Huye details the specific stories of eight Louisiana homeowners whose property damage claims were allegedly harmed by the scheme. Most either never received the money intended to repair their roofs, or saw that amount reduced after unauthorized attorneys' fees and expenses were withheld from their settlements, prosecutors say.

Allegations Against Moseley

Prosecutors further allege that Moseley — referenced under the co-conspirator label — in some instances endorsed settlement checks without proper homeowner authorization, then deposited funds meant for those homeowners' damage repairs directly into MMA's own bank account.

Potential Penalties Facing Huye

The wire fraud conspiracy charge against Huye carries a potential maximum sentence of up to five years in prison, along with a fine of approximately $250,000, should it ultimately result in a conviction.

A Pattern Uncovered Before the Criminal Charges

Even before Friday's charging papers, federal judges in Louisiana and a state insurance department fraud investigation had already determined that MMA — alongside Apex — used an online advertising agency called Velawcity to sign up thousands of storm-affected residents. Those recruitment methods allegedly violated Louisiana's legal ethics code, which explicitly bars paying non-lawyers to sign up clients.

Consequences That Followed

The fallout from those earlier findings was severe. Louisiana forced MMA to forfeit its entire client base and disbarred Huye, who subsequently relocated from New Orleans to Austin, Texas. The state's insurance commissioner also imposed a record $2 million in fines split among Huye, Moseley and MMA, according to reporting from Guardian partner WWL Louisiana.

MMA itself filed for bankruptcy protection in Houston in 2024, seeking to liquidate its remaining assets. And in July, according to WWL Louisiana, the state's supreme court ruled that MMA could not collect any fees from law firms that took over its forfeited clients' cases, if it's proven those clients were signed up illegally or unethically in the first place.

No Comment From Huye or His Attorney

The Guardian attempted unsuccessfully to reach Huye for comment on Saturday — coincidentally the five-year anniversary of Hurricane Ida's landfall. Huye's attorney, Sean Toomey, said Sunday he had no immediate comment on the charges against his client.