Florida Man Pleads Guilty to BP Spill Claims Fraud
A Florida man has pleaded guilty to attempting to defraud the BP oil spill claims fund by faking losses from a commercial fishing business.
Court records show 37-year-old Eliu Gonzalez of Florida City pleaded guilty Wednesday to a wire fraud charge. He faces a maximum 20-year prison term when sentenced in January.
BP created its $20 billion claims fund to compensate losses stemming from the April 2010 oil rig explosion and spill in the Gulf of Mexico. In October last year, prosecutors say Gonzalez submitted a claim of more than $110,000.
Part of the claimed losses included a series of receipts from a Miami fish market for yellowtail snapper that Gonzalez admitted in court were false.
Gonzalez is the first person in South Florida convicted of a BP claims fraud.
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