Woman Charged with $42,000 Oil Spill Scam

Cam T. Hang Charged with Mail Fraud in $42,000 Oil Spill Scam

In a shocking turn of events, Cam T. Hang, a Louisiana resident, has been indicted for allegedly filing fraudulent claims for compensation due to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The indictment, filed in the Eastern District of Louisiana, charges Hang with one count of mail fraud, alleging that she submitted false information claiming that her business, C.H. Food Mart Inc., a seafood restaurant, experienced loss of income as a result of the oil spill.

According to the indictment, Hang falsely stated that her business suffered a loss of $42,000 due to the oil spill. However, an investigation revealed that the business did not actually experience any losses. Hang allegedly used the fraudulent claim to obtain $42,000 in compensation from the Gulf Coast Claims Facility (GCCF).

This is not an isolated incident. In a coordinated effort, four other individuals have been charged with crimes related to fraudulent claims of compensation. In the Southern District of Alabama, Travis P. Sigler was charged with wire fraud for allegedly submitting fraudulent pay stubs in support of a $13,000 claim made to the GCCF. Maria Wright was charged with mail fraud for allegedly filing fraudulent documents in support of her claim to the GCCF for $20,000 in lost income due to the oil spill.

In the Eastern District of Michigan, Kevin Hall was charged in a criminal complaint unsealed on Dec. 8, 2010, with one count of wire fraud. Hall allegedly falsely claimed to BP that he suffered $9,000 in lost business revenue as a result of the oil spill. On Dec. 7, 2010, an indictment was filed in the Southern District of Mississippi, charging Dennis L. Moore with wire and mail fraud. According to the indictment, Moore allegedly submitted false documents – including a false Mississippi tax identification number, false state tax returns, a false Mississippi Department of Revenue Business Permit, false federal tax returns and false sales receipts – in support of claims totaling $180,000 to the GCCF and to BP for compensation relating to the oil spill.

An indictment filed in the Southern District of Texas on Nov. 22, 2010, charged Sergio Corona with wire fraud. The indictment alleges that the defendant filed a claim with BP for $28,434, asserting that he had lost income because of the oil spill, but submitted false and fraudulent receipts and invoices in support of his claim. Charlette Dufray Johnson was charged in a superseding indictment filed in the Eastern District of North Carolina on Nov. 24, 2010, with wire fraud and aggravated identity theft in connection with her claim.

The charges announced today send a strong message that we will not tolerate any fraudulent activity designed to profit from this tragic oil spill, said Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer. The Department of Justice and federal law enforcement agencies are placing a high priority on the prompt investigation and prosecution of all forms of fraud related to this disaster.

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