Feds outline anti-fraud efforts in aftermath of BP Gulf oil spill

U.S. Justice Department officials are urging people to report any suspected fraud or corruption in the aftermath of the Gulf oil spill and are launching a billboard campaign to advertise the anti-fraud effort.

U.S. Attorney Jim Letten and Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer of the Justice Department’s criminal division said last Tuesday that they want to make sure the people who were harmed by the spill get the dollars earmarked for residents and businesses.

After the April 20 explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig leased by BP PLC, the company set aside $20 billion to compensate those affected by the oil spill.

The disaster fraud hot line is 1-877-623-3423. Complaints also can be e-mailed to disaster(at)leo.gov.

“We simply cannot and will not allow unscrupulous individuals to line their own pockets at the expense of the residents of the Gulf Coast who have suffered real losses,” Breuer said, standing in the National Center for Disaster Fraud.

Housed on LSU’s campus, the center was created by the Justice Department after Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast in 2005, in a similar effort to combat fraud. It includes representatives from the FBI, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, postal inspector’s office and other federal agencies. Calls are screened there, and those considered with merit are referred to investigative agencies.

Breuer said the fraud center has received “a couple of hundred complaints” related to the oil spill so far, though he said that doesn’t mean they’ve all been referred for investigation.

To promote the anti-fraud effort, Letten said 150 electronic billboards – with space donated by Lamar Advertising Co. – will advertise ways to contact the disaster fraud center. A map released by Lamar showed the billboards will be posted around Louisiana and in Florida.