BP used escort services

From Dailymail

BP has gone on the offensive against the court-appointed lawyer in charge of making payments to businesses affected by the Deepwater Horizon disaster, claiming that he had signed off on a questionable $173,000 payout to an escort service.

The multibillionaire-dollar oil and gas company headquartered in London has taken out a full-page ad in several American newspapers Thursday, lamenting: 'The IRS wouldn't accept this claim. But the Gulf Settlement Program did.'

According to BP, an 'adult escort service' submitted tax returns from 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010 to the settlement program to support a claim for lost income - but all of the documents were dated 2012 and unsigned. 

 The unnamed escort service also provided accounting statements missing the dates on which they were created, according to the oil giant's ad.

'A claim from an “escort service.” Based on tax returns that were unsigned and perhaps never even filed. With alleged losses having no apparent connection to the spill. Paid in full,' the notice read.

The company accused the Gulf Settlement Program of ignoring obvious 'red flags' and pushing this claim for payment without investigating its legitimacy or asking for additional documentation.

'In fact, many claims are paid with shockingly little scrutiny,’ BP railed. 

However, the court-appointed attorney tasked with supervising the disbursements insisted that it is not so.

Deepwater Horizon Claims Administrator Patrick Juneau told the Wall Street Journal the escort service claim was carefully studied and deemed valid.

For this claim and for all other claims, we follow the terms agreed upon by the parties for eligibility and payment,’ Juneau told the paper. ‘This claim satisfied those requirements agreed upon by BP and Class Counsel and was paid pursuant to the Settlement Agreement.’

BP has vowed to continue fighting to stop individuals and businesses that had not been affected by the 2010 oil spill from taking advantage of the settlement agreement. 


On April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon offshore oil drilling rig exploded, killing 11 workers and spewing between 103million and 176million gallons of crude into the Gulf of Mexico.

Since the spill, BP has challenged several claims, among them one submitted by a lawyer working 200 miles from the Gulf who got paid just over $172,000 - even though he did not have a license to practice law in 2010.
The company has also questioned claims filed by a cell phone store closed that year after a fire that got $135,000 as part of the settlement, and a nursing home in Louisiana that was paid more than $660,000 - even though it was shuttered for a year before the spill.  
Last year, BP agreed to a $9.2billion settlement requiring the company to pay claimants whose did not directly stem from the spill. To date, the oil giant has paid out more than $3.78million.

On Thursday, BP scored a major court victory in its ongoing battle to block settlement payments.

Judge Carl Barbier issued an order temporarily suspending payments to businesses while he reconsiders the company’s arguments against compensating those that cannot trace losses directly to the nation’s worst offshore oil spill.

The federal judge noted the claims office will continue taking and processing business claims but won’t make final decisions or payments until the matter is settled.

Is it possible to get a FOIA request out of these guys?