BANKING/FINANCE

‘Witch Hunt’ Claimed: The owner of a small insurance firm seized by the state last month attacked Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi over his crackdown on unlicensed operators.

Jane Helms on Tuesday said that Garamendi is on a “witch hunt” in putting 73 companies out of business in his first six months on the job.

Helms operated Continental Savers Insurance Co. in Norco and Santa Ana, which is not related to the giant Continental Insurance of New York.

Garamendi’s office seized the small firm June 26, saying it was collecting premiums with no intention of writing policies and issuing worthless temporary insurance binders.

But Helms denied the claims and said she was guilty only of failing to get an insurance broker’s license. As an insurance agent, she said, she was waiting for a new state law to take effect next January that would apparently allow agents to become brokers without the hassle of a taking a special examination.

“I didn’t defraud anyone,” she asserted. “Claims were paid off. I resent that the state made people feel I did something wrong. People are canceling policies left and right.”

In an agreement with state lawyers Tuesday, Helms will get back her offices, computer, furniture, private papers and unrelated business files within a week. The state will keep the insurance-business files.