rick_scott_15.jpgTALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) _ Florida Gov. Rick Scott says it's troubling that Florida's largest property insurer recently fired four employees responsible for investigating wrongdoing.

Scott on Thursday wrote a letter to the president of Citizens Property Insurance raising questions about the decision to terminate the employees working in the Office of Corporate Integrity. The move was reported earlier this week by the Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald.

Scott said the decision to disband the office concerned him because the governor's inspector general is currently reviewing reports of lavish travel expenses by the company.

Citizens officials say they plan to replace the employees with those who have better skills to detect financial fraud.

But Scott questioned the decision to remove watchdog employees before hiring new ones.

The state-created Citizens Property has nearly 1.48 million policyholders.