Guardian Life Insurance Co. of America said yesterday that it is conducting an audit of the business activities of Richard James, who had worked as an agent for two years.

James worked for Guardian from August 2000 until August 2002 when he resigned, the company said, adding that it knew nothing of his alleged criminal activities.

“The company is conducting an audit of Mr. James’ business and will cooperate fully with law enforcement authorities in their investigation,” Guardian said in its statement.

James was arrested in June on charges he traveled in interstate commerce to carry out a plot to kill a man to reap insurance proceeds. During a bail hearing in July, federal prosecutors said James had boasted that he had $25 million in insurance policies on the street on the lives of a variety of people.

Prosecutors expressed alarm at that figure at the time and argued that it was evidence to keep James in custody as a public danger before trial.

This week Ronald Mallay, an alleged accomplice of James, was arrested on more detailed charges involving two homicides — one in Queens and another in Guyana. Officials say the victims were marginal people, including a drunk.

Metlife, another large insurance company James worked for, said it did an internal review and found 21 “unusual” deaths of people whose life insurance policies had been prepared by James. That information was passed over to federal investigators.

Officials said as many as eight of the deaths involved accidents or homicides.

Officials at Guardian, the fourth-largest mutual life insurance company in the U.S., would not disclose the number of cases James had worked on.

Meanwhile, a controversy erupted yesterday over which attorney is defending James, who remains in custody pending further bail hearings.

Wednesday, attorneys Thomas Sheehan and Darmin Bachu held a news conference proclaiming James’ innocence and saying they represent him. But yesterday, Steve Zissou of Bayside, who appeared for James at recent bail hearings, said that he was still representing the man.

Zissou said that he has a letter dated Sept. 4 from James to Sheehan in which the defendant asked Sheehan to discontinue efforts on his behalf and did not want him to appear as his attorney.

Late yesterday, Bachu told Newsday that James’ wife had retained him and Sheehan.

In a news release, Sheehan and Bachu said that James denied the charges and any involvement in the deaths of “persons who were injured.”