BP is asking a federal judge to halt payments from a USD 2.3 billion (EUR 1.7 billion) fund it set up to compensate the seafood industry in the wake of its 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, alleging a lawyer representing thousands of deck hands submitted false claims.
BP filed suit on Tuesday against attorney Mikal Watts, whose offices were raided by the U.S. Secret Service earlier this year, saying the company was duped by his assertion that 43,000 seafood industry workers were ready to sue over lost wages stemming from the months-long spill.
Ultimately only 648 of those individuals, or 2 percent, filed claims for compensation, BP said in court filings. Nearly 60 percent of the original 43,000 claimants Mr. Watts said he represented were found to be fictitious, with incomplete or falsified Social Security numbers, according to the company.
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