BP Victims’ Fund to Fight Bogus Claims, Feinberg Says

[dipsydoodle]

Source: Bloomberg

June 25 (Bloomberg) -- The $20 billion fund for victims of BP Plc’s oil spill will use federal fraud investigators to deter bogus claims while guarding personal information provided by businesses and individuals, the administrator said today.

“Nothing can destroy the credibility of a program quicker than allegations of fraud,” administrator Kenneth R. Feinberg said in an interview for Bloomberg Television’s “Political Capital With Al Hunt” to be broadcast this weekend. The Justice Department’s fraud section is “the best there is,” he said.

The fund will disclose enough about the claims to satisfy state officials without disclosing personal information, similar to a process Feinberg said he followed in paying victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Feinberg has been meeting state and local officials along the Gulf Coast and said in about 30 days his office should be operating to process claims. BP agreed to set up the fund June 16 under pressure from President Barack Obama, and Feinberg was selected to oversee the claims program.

Read more: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-06-25/bp-victims-fund-to-fight-bogus-claims-feinberg-says.html

[davidinalameda]

1. as well as they should