BP Oil Spill Provides An Example
On October 29, 2015, the Department of Justice released a statement titled “Seven Individuals Indicted for Conspiracy, Mail and Wire Fraud, and Identity Theft in Connection with the Lawsuit Against BP.” An excerpt from this statement reads:
As outlined in the indictment, the defendants would acquire names, addresses, dates of birth, and social security numbers from any available source without contacting the individuals to create "clients" for anticipated litigation stemming from the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill.
The indictment further alleges that the defendants fraudulently submitted the names of over 40,000 individuals as plaintiffs represented by defendant Attorney Mikal C. Watts in litigation related to the Deepwater Horizon/BP oil spill, fully aware that these individuals had not consented to be represented by the firm. That stolen and fabricated social security numbers, dates of birth, addresses, and occupations were provided.
According to the indictment, the defendants attempted to secure payments for individuals whom Attorney Mikal C. Watts allegedly represented, ultimately submitting "presentment forms" to BP for over 40,000 individuals. Unfortunately, Attorney Watts evaded accountability. Nevertheless, two of his co-conspirators were convicted of the charges. During the trial, the Department of Justice revealed that Attorney Watts had invested nearly $11 million in compiling his BP client list, anticipating that the monetary value of the fraudulent claims he submitted to BP would exceed $2 billion. Upon review, Attorney Watts’s BP client list contained numerous errors, including the names of deceased individuals, people who had never authorized him to represent them, and even the name of a dog. Recent legislation has made this issue critically important for U.S. taxpayers.
The Camp Lejeune Justice Act Creates an Urgent Need for Action
On August 10, 2022, then-President Biden signed the “Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics,” now known as the PACT Act. The Camp Lejeune Justice Act, also known as the CLJA, is part of the PACT Act, which allows individuals with medical claims to pursue additional legal actions against the U.S. government. This' mass tort' civil litigation could cost U.S. taxpayers up to $100 billion.
The opportunity to submit a CLJA claim ended on August 10, 2024. As of March 2, 2025, approximately 400,000 claims had been filed. Unfortunately, at least 100,000 of these claims are likely fraudulent, meaning U.S. taxpayers may face an estimated $20 billion in false claims. The notorious Attorney Watts has voluntarily verified his firm’s CLJA claims and identified instances of fraud, as detailed in a Bloomberg Law article dated October 30, 2023, titled "Bogus Claims Threaten to Taint Lejeune Toxic Water Payouts.” An excerpt from this article states:
The government plans to allocate billions of dollars to victims of toxic water at Camp Lejeune, which has triggered a wave of fraudulent claims that threaten to disrupt or tarnish what could be one of the largest mass tort cases ever. Mikal Watts, whose Texas firm represents 6,000 Camp Lejeune clients, stated that its internal auditors found that hundreds of referrals from other lawyers concerning Camp Lejeune and other cases were fraudulent, often based on falsified medical records and made-up reports of diseases or other illnesses. He noted that some of the prospective plaintiffs were recruited through call centers located in India.
Solution
President Trump should issue an Executive Order to mandate a verification program for all CLJA claims before settlement funds are disbursed. It is crucial to highlight that this proposed program represents a significant improvement over the Department of Government Efficiency's audits for government entitlement programs. While those audits only identify misappropriated funds after the fact, this program proactively detects fraud before settlement funds are allocated. By implementing this program, we can ensure a more efficient and accountable distribution of resources, ultimately protecting U.S. taxpayer money and enhancing public trust in our government systems.
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