Investigator suspects corruption in handling of claims
NEW ORLEANS — A former FBI director has recommended that the Justice Department investigate whether several lawyers plotted to corrupt the settlement program designed to compensate victims of BP’s 2010 Gulf Coast oil spill.
But the independent probe led by Louis Freeh didn’t find any evidence of wrongdoing by the multibillion-dollar settlement’s court-appointed administrator, who has been a target of BP’s increasingly aggressive campaign to challenge payouts to Gulf Coast businesses.
Freeh, who was appointed by a federal judge to investigate alleged misconduct by a staff attorney who worked on the settlement program, cleared claims administrator Patrick Juneau of engaging in any “conflict of interest, or unethical or improper conduct.”
The report issued Friday also found nothing that warranted shutting down payments to victims of the oil spill, which spewed millions of gallons of oil into the water, fouling marshes, fisheries and beaches from Louisiana to Florida.
But Freeh concluded that then-top members of Juneau’s staff engaged in conduct that was improper, unethical and possibly criminal. He recommended that his report be forwarded to the Justice Department.
Freeh’s probe isn’t over. His report said his work is “ongoing” and will result in recommendations for strengthening the settlement program’s operations and anti-fraud measures.
Juneau said Freeh’s report validates his team’s work, and he played down the alleged misconduct by two former members of his staff as an “isolated situation.”
“We will continue the job of processing claims,” he said in a statement. “We welcome the recommendations from the Freeh report and we look forward to working with him to help improve all aspects of the claims process.”
BP spokesman Geoff Morrell said the report “confirms what BP has suspected for some time: there has been fraud and unethical conduct within the facility itself and among various claimants and their lawyers — and immediate steps need to be taken to prevent it in the future.”