BP Oil Spill Compensation Attracing Fraudsters
It appears that fraunsters are trying to claim a slice of the compensation money that BP are paying to people affected by the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. BP has paid out $310 million so far in compensation to businesses and individuals but there is a fear that some of that money has gone to the wrong people.
Fishing boat captains have been approached by strangers to sign papers vouching for them as previous employees. Some captains have been offered one thousand dollars for their signature.
In order to claim compensation fishermen must prove they hold a commercial fishing license. The only place to obtain one in Louisiana is the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries in Baton Rouge.
Since the oil spill happened in April, approximately 2,200 more commercial licences have been sold than in the same period last year, despite the pollution and closed fishing grounds. That in itself seems like slack control at the Department.
Lt Col Jeff Mayne of the LDWF Law Enforcement Division says some of those licences may have been used to commit fraud. “Originally BP was paying to cheques to just anybody who had a licence and that may have spurred some of the fraud,” he says. “There were no real checks on whether they were they really commercial fishermen.”
During the past week, LDWF made its first three arrests in relation to fraudulent oil spill compensation claims.
“It brings out the unscrupulous people who see it as an opportunity to take advantage of the goodwill of others.” Lt Col Mayne went on to say.
Genuine fishermen are up in arms about the fraudsters. “Every cent these fraudsters get is money that’s being taken away from me,” says local fisherman Mike Barisich. Robin, a fellow fisherman agrees: “That’s what you call playing the system. It makes me mad, because we are such hard-working people, we don’t even know how to play the system.”
“I would like to say I’m surprised, but I’m not,” says Lt Col Mayne. “It’s a lot easier to go and steal a resource than to rob a bank.”
What does BP have to say about whether they handed out cash too easily.
“There will likely be some fraudsters who made it through the initial process and received dollars,” says Allen Carpenter, one of BP’s regional managers in charge of the 14 claims centres in the Louisiana. BP now has a special unit investigating several hundred cases of possible fraud. Adjusters in claims centres around Louisiana have also been warned to be on the lookout.
A certain amount of fraud is inevitable Mr. Carpenter said. He investigated fraud cases after Hurricane Katrina, when fraud cost the authorities billions of dollars.
