BP treated like mafia - racketeers

“Lawsuits Use Mafia Law Against BP

By Curt Anderson, AP Legal Affairs Writer
Manufacturing.Net - July 19, 2010

MIAMI (AP) -- Using a law originally enacted to combat the Mafia, attorneys are filing lawsuits accusing BP PLC and Transocean Ltd. of committing a long-term series of crimes by concealing flaws in deepwater drilling plans and lacking safeguards to contain a catastrophic Gulf of Mexico spill.

BP has been named in at least three lawsuits brought under the federal law known as RICO, which stands for Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations. Transocean, which leased the ill-fated Deepwater Horizon drilling rig to BP, has been named in two lawsuits filed in Louisiana and Florida.

The lawsuits accuse both companies of committing wire and mail fraud over a number of years by filing false documents with the U.S. government, and by misleading investors through other documents and falsehoods. They also claim both companies are guilty of bribery because they are part of an overall oil and gas industry effort to "infiltrate" federal regulators by providing favors such as alcohol and drugs, sex, golf and ski trips, concert and sports tickets, and more.

"The pattern of racketeering activity engaged in by defendants involves a scheme to fraudulently create a pretense of safety to the public while, at every turn, seeking to avoid the costs associated with actually conducting their operations in a safe manner," claims a lawsuit filed by Louisiana attorney Daniel Becnel and others on behalf of a restaurant seeking to represent a huge class of businesses suffering economic loss from the oil spill.

RICO, passed by Congress in 1970, contains both a civil and criminal component, but both of them rely on proof of longterm violations of at least two specific crimes from a lengthy list. The attraction of the civil portion, which are being used in the current lawsuits, is that any damages would be tripled.

In the past, civil RICO cases have often been followed by criminal prosecutions. The Justice Department has not ruled out using RICO in its ongoing criminal investigation of the Deepwater Horizon explosion, which killed 11 rig workers and triggered a massive oil spill that has affected five Gulf Coast states.

Criminal convictions can lead to prison sentences of 20 years on each racketeering count, plus hefty fines and forfeiture of ill-gotten gains.

"We are investigating any possible violations of the law," said Justice Department spokeswoman Hannah August.