Three more insurance-industry employees pleaded guilty to criminal in Marsh & McLennan Cos.case. They include a former Marsh executive who told the court there was "a protocol designed to deceive" Marsh’s clients about the payments the firm quietly accepted from insurers, the will Street Journal reported on February 16.

Each of three men stated in court that big ridding was a common practice at Marsh, pointing out that guilty pleads by individuals and civil suits against insurance companies are possible. All of them are collaborating with Eliot Spitzer state attorney general and will give testimony in trials.

A 39-year-old Joshua Bewlay, a former Marsh executive, pleaded guilty to a felony count of scheme to defraud. He can be punished by 4 years in prison.

John Mohns,36, worked as a manager in an excess-casuality-insurance underwriting unit of a subsidiary of American international Group Inc. in New York. He pleaded guilty to scheme to defraud as well/ Carlos Coello, 33, a former underwriter at AIG from September 2002 to 2004 pleaded guilty to scheme to defraud.

According to the Wall Street Journal, under "the protocol" described in court by Mr. Bewlay, clients who asked about contingent commissions usually were referred to a specific Marsh employee, who would say that they added up to 1% to 2% of their premium, when in fact they sometimes hit 10% to 15%, according to court documents. This is the first indication that Marsh may have had a policy of misleading clients on contingent commissions.