Oil giant BP says it has found new evidence of fraud and conflicts of interest over compensation payouts in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon disaster.
The company made the claims in its latest filing with the US District Court as it looks to suspend payouts while former FBI director Louis Freeh investigates the compensation process.
The move comes just days after BP admitted it was having to top up its compensation fund for the 2010 disaster by almost £1billion after seeing the £13billion originally set aside dwindle down to less than £200million.
BP said it learned in the last few days that two of the lawyers reviewing appeals of disputed compensation bids were partners at law firms representing claimants, arguing there was apparent conflicts of interest.
It also said it had been tipped off via the fraud hotline set up last month that a claims centre worker in Alabama had helped people submit fraudulent compensation bids in exchange for a cut of the payouts.
“BP should not have to face the substantial risk of irreparable harm from improper payments,” the company said.
Last month BP failed in its most recent bid to suspend payments over the Macondo incident, pending an investigation into misconduct over the compensation process.
It has launched a high profile attack on supposedly fraudulent claims, including newspaper adverts and a fraud hotline.
This new court filing claims a temporary halt of payments until Freeh completes his investigations would only ‘slightly delay’ payouts.
BP is still awaiting a ruling by a federal appeals court after challenging the payment formula.
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