Internal Probe: No Fraud at BP Claims Center in AL - ABC News

Internal Probe: No Fraud at BP Claims Center in AL - ABC News:

The head of security for the administrator of BP's multibillion-dollar settlement with Gulf Coast residents and businesses says an internal probe of alleged misconduct by an employee of a Mobile, Ala., claims center hasn't turned up any evidence of fraud.BP said it received a tip in July that someone who worked at the Mobile office helped people submit fraudulent claims in exchange for some of the settlement money.But David Welker, a former FBI supervisor who now works for court-supervised claims administrator Patrick Juneau, said in a letter dated Aug. 22 that his investigation found no evidence of fraud in any of the claims handled by the employee.BP cited the employee's alleged misconduct in its Aug. 5 request for a federal judge to temporarily suspend all settlement payments. U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier rejected a similar request by BP in July, but he hasn't ruled yet on the company's renewed bid to suspend payments.In a court filing Sunday, two of the plaintiffs' attorneys who brokered the settlement with BP said the company hasn't presented any evidence that any claim was improperly calculated or paid."There is not even an argument, much less an evidentiary showing, to support the injunction of the entire Settlement Program," wrote the lawyers, Stephen Herman and James Roy.In his letter to a BP official, Welker said the Mobile employee accused of misconduct has helped 124 people. All of those claims were placed on hold.The employee's mother filed a claim, but she denied any wrongdoing and withdrew it, Welker said.

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