Whenever it appears to the commissioner that any insurer or any director, officer, employee or agent thereof has committed a willful violation of this chapter, the commissioner may cause criminal proceedings to be instituted in the court having criminal jurisdiction for the county in which the principal office of the insurer is located, or if such insurer has no such office in the state, then in the Circuit Court for the First Judicial District of Hinds County against such insurer or the responsible director, officer, employee or agent thereof. Any insurer which willfully violates this chapter may be fined not more than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00). Any individual who willfully violates this chapter upon conviction may be fined not more than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00), or if such willful violation involves the deliberate perpetration of a fraud, may be imprisoned in the state penitentiary for not more than two (2) years, or both.