Thousands of fake gulf claims suspected

NEW ORLEANS, Dec. 15 (UPI) -- A few thousand of the 460,000 claims filed in the gulf oil disaster seem fraudulent, federal compensation boss Kenneth Feinberg says.

Feinberg said this week he finds 2,000 to 3,000 claims he has received "very suspicious" and "will send any claims that appear to be fraudulent to the Department of Justice," The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune reported.

The FBI and gulf coast U.S. attorneys' offices are encouraging people to report suspected fraud to (877) 623-3423 or [email protected].

The Justice Department announced last week that seven people have been indicted for trying to defraud BP or Feinberg's Gulf Coast Claims Facility, which took over the claims process from BP Aug. 23.

Federal prosecutors in New Orleans filed an indictment Friday charging Cam Hang of Gretna, La., with mail fraud, alleging she collected $42,000 for losses from a seafood restaurant that she actually sold a year before the leak.

Other people indicted last week include a Mississippi man accused of filing false documents to get $180,000 and an Alabama woman who collected $20,000.