Ethics panel subpoenas Oxendine donors

ATLANTA - The state Ethics Commission has subpoenaed a pair of insurance companies under investigation for funneling money to John Oxendine's gubernatorial campaign.

Stacey Kalberman, the ethics panel's executive secretary, said Thursday the subpoenas were issued to State Mutual Insurance Company and the Admiral Life Insurance Company. The subpoenas demand bank records, correspondence, documents and e-mails.

Georgia law prohibits officials from taking money directly from companies they regulate or from passing money through political action committees to get around contribution caps.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that the companies funneled almost 10 times the legal limit to Oxendine, the state's insurance commissioner, using the PACs.