BP victims' fund to fight bogus claims: Feinberg

Kenneth Feinberg, the government-appointed administrator of a $20 billion fund to compensate victims of the BP Plc oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, says he will work to minimise the risk of fraudulant claims. Bloomberg’s Al Hunt reports on Feinberg, legislation to overhaul the US financial regulatory system and the outlook for this weekend’s meetings of the Group of 20 nations.

Kenneth Feinberg, the government-appointed administrator of a $20 billion fund to compensate victims of the BP Plc oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, talks with Bloomberg’s Al Hunt about the payment process to claimants.

The administrator of the $20 billion fund for victims of BP Plc’s oil spill said he will use federal fraud investigators to deter bogus claims and pledged to protect personal information submitted by businesses and individuals. “Nothing can destroy the credibility of a program quicker than allegations of fraud,” administrator Kenneth R Feinberg said yesterday in an interview for Bloomberg Television’s “Political Capital With Al Hunt” 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 September 11 terrorist attacks.