Former New Orleans Airport Director Faces Insurance Fraud Charges

The former airport director at New Orleans’ Louis Armstrong International Airport faces criminal charges in an alleged case mail and insurance fraud related to Hurricane Katrina.

U.S. Attorney Jim Letten said Sean Hunter, 44, and his wife, Shauna Crowden Hunter, 31, were charged in a bill of information on Aug. 27 with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and making false statements to the FBI.

Prosecutors allege that Shauna Hunter falsely claimed that her new BMW had been destroyed in Hurricane Katrina, which hit Aug. 29, 2005. According to the charges, Auto Club Inter-Insurance Exchange sent Shauna Hunter a check for more than $3,000 and one to BMW Financial Services for $51,908 to cover the cost of the car.

The car was not destroyed and images of it later were caught on traffic light cameras in New Orleans. Prosecutors said that led to the Hunters devising a scheme that included storing the car at an airport parking garage.

A call for comment placed to a Sean Hunter listed in New Orleans’ phone directory was not immediately returned Friday afternoon. There was no listing available for Shauna Hunter. No defense lawyer was listed in court documents.

Sean Hunter resigned in September amid the federal investigation of possible insurance fraud by his wife. He had held the airport’s top administrative spot since 2006.