Dec. 14--Jim Hays is the sort of businessman who knows a lot of people. He plays golf with them. He travels widely for business and pleasure. He contributes money to charities. He boosts political careers.

His networking is one reason he has grown wealthy in the highly competitive commercial insurance world. It's no surprise that Hays' circle includes Sen. Norm Coleman and his wife, Laurie.

The co-founder and chief executive of Hays Companies, a national insurance broker based in Minneapolis, has made more political contributions to Coleman's political committees than to any other candidate's -- nearly $20,000 since 1998.

Yet his support of the Colemans drew little attention, even after he hired Laurie Coleman in 2006. At age 50, she had made a career change from actress and model to insurance agent.

But right before this year's U.S. Senate election, Hays' relatively quiet relationship with the Colemans came under an uncomfortable spotlight.

Two lawsuits filed in a Texas dispute involving the company Deep Marine Technology Inc. alleged that another businessman and supporter of Norm Coleman's sought to maneuver $75,000 to the senator through his wife's new employer. Neither the Colemans nor Hays are parties to the lawsuits, but they are mentioned in them. Hays has said the allegation that his company served as a money conduit to the Colemans is untrue. The FBI has begun an investigation of allegations in the lawsuits, sources familiar with the probe said last week.

Laurie Coleman's role in Hays Companies remains a bit of a question mark. Unlike many of Hays' employees, she is an independent contractor who doesn't maintain an office at Hays' headquarters in the IDS Center. Though she was licensed as an agent in 2006, Coleman can't legally write insurance policies because she has no association or "appointment" with an insurer, according to the Minnesota Commerce Department. She still can work in insurance, but an authorized broker would have to seal the deal if she brought in customers.

Hays Companies has said Laurie Coleman receives no compensation under its contract with Deep Marine for risk management consulting. Both lawsuits in the Texas dispute say that three quarterly payments of $25,000 each were made by Deep Marine to Hays Companies in 2007. Hays Companies doesn't dispute the payments, but insists they didn't go to the Colemans.

Laurie Coleman does get a salary from Hays Companies, according to her husband's Senate financial disclosure report. Senate rules do not require the salary amount to be revealed.