A man entered a plea of not guilty in response to charges that he fraudulently received $172,800 by claiming that he lost his job as a deckhand and fisherman following the BP oil spill. The man got charged with fraud after he got arrested for traffic violations and the federal arrest warrant for fraud came through on his background check. The charges allege that the man and a co-conspirator submitted false documentation to the Gulf Coast Claims Facility, including an employment letter, tax documents, and receipts. The Gulf Coast Claims Facility paid the claim.
Unfortunately, the aforementioned incidence of alleged oil spill fraud is not an isolated case. Various types of individuals and groups of people have tried to claim a piece of the oil spill settlement money in ways that are not legitimate. Another example of oil spill fraud is the case of Thi Houng Le a/k/a Kristy Le, and Gregory P. Warren, who got sentenced for conspiracy to commit identity theft, along with aggravated identity theft, mail fraud, and wire fraud. The charges were brought in connection with a fraudulent lawsuit that they brought against BP. This type of fraud was a scheme that would have defrauded a number of individual victims in addition to the Gulf Coast Claims Facility. The defendants stole the names, addresses, social security numbers, birth dates, and other pieces of personal information of multiple people to create over forty thousand “plaintiffs” for anticipated litigation. The individuals named as “plaintiffs” had never consented to representation by the law firm.
There are plenty of other fraud cases as well. For example, a woman collected approximately $150,000 in oil spill recovery money after she claimed that she lost her job as a hotel manager as the result of the oil spill. She submitted an online claim form to the Gulf Coast Claims Center, and, with the aid of a co-conspirator, she supplied documentation in support of the claim. She was charged with wire fraud and entered a guilty plea. The woman could get sentenced to prison for up to twenty years.
Barrett Law PLLC: Addressing the Fallout From the BP Oil Spill
The BP oil spill created thousands of personal and business losses. A claims center was established to process those claims, and some people who had never been damaged by the oil spill submitted false claims. Some of the fraudulent claims got paid, depriving the claims center of money that it could have used to pay legitimate claims for damages, which were plentiful. As time goes on, it is likely that more and more false claims associated with the oil spill will be revealed and more people will get arrested for their attempts to take money that they are not entitled to. If you have questions about the BP oil spill claims process, the Mississippi BP Oil Spill Attorneys at Barrett Law PLLC might be able to help you. Call us today at 1 (800) 707-9577, to set up a free, initial consultation.
