A senior executive of Marsh & McLennan Companies pleaded guilty to criminal charges in connection with an ongoing investigation of fraud and bid rigging in the insurance industry, New York Attorney General Eliot Spitizer said last week.

In his guilty plea, Robert Stearns, a senior vice president at the Marsh, admitted that he instructed insurance companies to submit noncompetitive bids for insurance business, and conveyed these bids to Marsh clients under false and fraudulent pretenses. These noncompetitive bids allowed Marsh to control the market, to protect incumbent insurance carriers when their business was up for renewal, and to maximize Marsh’s profits.

Six executives at four companies in the insurance industry have now pleaded guilty to criminal charges in the probe. Two executives at AIG, two from Zurich American Insurance Company, and one from ACE previously entered pleas to similar charges.

Mr. Stearns is expected to testify in future cases, as are the five other insurance company employees who previously entered criminal pleas.

(via Office of New York State Attorney General)