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Those of you who follow this blog know that I am venturing into a new area to assist consumers…teaming up with a colleague to help make sure every one of my clients receives the share of damages they are entitled to receive from the BP settlement.

The most frequent response I receive is…

I DON’T THINK I’M ENTITLED TO FILE A BP CLAIM…AM I?

And the reality is that….YES….most Gulf Coast Business owners are entitled to file claims…and many will recover.  But lately there have been some wild accusations relating to BP claims floating around in the press.  Well, today the rumors were set to rest….read from Huffington Post:

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A federal judge refused Friday to temporarily shut down a multibillion-dollar settlement program for compensating victims of BP’s 2010 Gulf oil spill, saying he has seen no evidence of widespread fraud among the tens of thousands of claims.

The judge also said he was offended by what he saw as attempts to smear the lawyer administering the claims.

BP PLC argued that all payments to Gulf Coast residents and businesses should be suspended while former FBI Director Louis Freeh investigates alleged misconduct by a lawyer who worked for claims administrator Patrick Juneau on the settlement program.

U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier said he was troubled by the allegations but didn’t see any reason to take the “drastic step” of shutting down the program without evidence of widespread fraud.

Lionel H. Sutton III, a target of Freeh’s probe, allegedly received a portion of settlement proceeds for claims he referred to a law firm before joining Juneau’s staff.

Sutton, who resigned on June 21, has denied the allegations. Sutton’s wife, Christine Reitano, who also worked as a lawyer for the settlement program, had her contract terminated June 26.

MORE HERE