INSURANCE

Insurance Con Artist Convicted: St. Louis businessman Arthur Blumeyer III, who ran a web of fraudulent insurance firms that fleeced consumers in California and elsewhere, was found guilty of fraudulently obtaining more than $43.5 million in premiums, U.S. Atty. Edward L. Dowd Jr. announced. A jury in U.S. District Court in St. Louis convicted Blumeyer, 50, of 27 felony counts including conspiracy, wire fraud, mail fraud and money laundering. In the late 1980s, after California officials issued a cease-and-desist order against one Blumeyer company, Bel-Aire Insurance, he shifted business into another, Atlantic General Insurance, Dowd said. It is unknown how much of the phony coverage was sold in California.