ORDERS:
ORDER
This is a license
revocation proceeding initiated by the petitioner, the South Carolina
Department of Insurance. The respondent, Zarak Ali, requested a contested case
hearing on the matter.
The parties were
notified by order filed on March 20, 2006 that this case would be tried on May
25, 2006 at 10:00 a.m. I convened the trial on that date at 10:05 a.m. The
petitioner was represented by Jeffrey A. Jacobs; the respondent, Mr. Ali, was
not present.
Mr. Ali is a bail
bondsman licensed by the Department of Insurance. The department introduced
into evidence certified copies of three orders of judgment of the Greenville
County Court of General Sessions, showing that Mr. Ali had failed to pay bond
estreatments. Mr. Ali admits in his prehearing statement that those
estreatments were not paid.
Section 38-53-150 of the South Carolina Code
provides:
(A) The director or his designee may deny,
suspend, revoke, or refuse to renew any license issued under this chapter for
any of the following causes:
. . . .
(9) for failing to pay
any judgment or decree rendered on any forfeited undertaking in any court of
competent jurisdiction . . . .
S.C. Code Ann. § 38-53-150(A)(9).
I find that Mr.
Ali has failed to pay a judgment rendered on a forfeited undertaking in a court
of competent jurisdiction. Such failure constitutes grounds for revocation of
Mr. Ali’s license as a bail bondsman.
Additionally, I find
that, by virtue of his failure to appear for the hearing, Mr. Ali is in default
under Rule 55 of the South Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure, and that entry of
a default judgment is warranted in the alternative.
I therefore order that
the bail bondsman’s license of Zarak O. Ali is hereby revoked. I further order
that a copy of this order shall be immediately transmitted to the National
Association of Insurance Commissioners for distribution to its member states.
It is so ordered.
John
D. McLeod
Administrative
Law Judge
Columbia, South Carolina
May 31, 2006 |
