{"id":6647,"date":"2014-10-15T12:55:47","date_gmt":"2014-10-15T19:55:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=6647"},"modified":"2014-10-15T12:55:47","modified_gmt":"2014-10-15T19:55:47","slug":"three-convicted-fraud-stealing-3-million-massive-bp-oil-spill-fund","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=6647","title":{"rendered":"Three Convicted for Stealing Millions of Dollars from the BP Oil Spill Fund"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"British<\/a>
Photo: British Petroleum Oil Spill Image by CBC News Network<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

BIRMINGHAM<\/strong>\u2014A federal jury on Monday convicted three people of conspiracy and fraud for their family run scheme to steal more than $3 million from the claims fund that was set up by British Petroleum for victims of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, officials said.<\/p>\n

The jury deliberated about seven hours before returning guilty verdicts against Marcella Truss,<\/strong> 53, her husband Martee Davis,<\/strong> 42, both of Grand Bay, Alabama, and Marcella Truss’ brother Howard Lenard Carroway,<\/strong> 42, of Mobile.<\/p>\n

Sentencing has not been scheduled for the trio.<\/p>\n

All three were convicted of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud occurring between August 2010 and December 2011 for filing false claims with the Gulf Coast Claims Facility.<\/p>\n

Officials said this week\u2019s guilty verdicts bring to 20 the number of people convicted in federal court in \u00a0Alabama on charges related to the scheme to defraud British Petroleum’s Claims Facility.<\/p>\n

Marcella,\u00a0Truss\u2019 son, Robert Truss III,<\/strong> 26, of Houston, \u00a0Davis and Carroway recruited the 16 other defendants to provide personal information that was used to file false claims. Those recruited then received claim payments and provided a portion of the payments to the ringleaders.<\/p>\n

All of the claims falsely stated they worked for a \u00a0company called\u00a0Built by Request<\/strong>\u00a0and had lost wages because of the Deepwater Horizon incident. Marcella Truss owned this company and dissolved it after the scheme played out.<\/p>\n

Evidence at trial showed the oil spill fund paid almost $2 million on the fraudulent claims.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe people convicted Monday saw a disaster that harmed the Gulf of Mexico, much of its coastline and thousands of people, and their choice was to exploit the disaster and steal from the fund intended to help its victims,\u201d U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance said.<\/p>\n

Adding, \u201cWe place a high priority on investigating and prosecuting fraud related to natural and man-made disasters to ensure that funds available to help victims of those tragedies do not fall into the hands of criminals,\u201d she said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

British Petroleum owned the Macondo Oil Well where the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded in 2010. British Petroleum\u00a0set up\u00a0the Claims Facility in June 2010 to \u00a0settle claims made against the company by individuals or business for losses, damages or other costs resulting from the massive oil spill.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n