Freeh: Possible Corruption in BP Claims Handling A former FBI director recommended Friday that the Justice Department investigate whether several lawyers plotted to corrupt the settlement program designed to compensate victims of BP's 2010 Gulf oil spill. But the independent probe led by Louis Freeh didn't find any evidence of wrongdoing by the multibillion-dollar settlement's court-appointed administrator, who has been a target of BP's increasingly aggressive campaign to challenge payouts to Gulf Coast businesses. Freeh, who was appointed by a federal judge to investigate alleged misconduct by a staff attorney who worked on the settlement program, cleared claims administrator Patrick Juneau of engaging in any "conflict of interest, or unethical or improper conduct." The report also found nothing that warranted shutting down payments to victims of the oil spill, which spewed millions of gallons of oil into the water, fouling marshes, fisheries and beaches from Louisiana to Florida. However, Freeh concluded that then-top members of Juneau's staff engaged in conduct that was improper, unethical and possibly criminal. He recommended that his report be forwarded to the Justice Department. "The nature and seriousness of this type conduct varied in degree but was pervasive and, at its extreme, may have constituted criminal conduct," the report said. Freeh's probe also isn't over. His report said his work is "ongoing" and will result in recommendations for strengthening the settlement program's operations and anti-fraud measures. Juneau said Freeh's report validates his team's work, and he played down the alleged misconduct by two former members of his staff as an "isolated situation." "We will continue the job of processing claims," he said in a statement. We welcome the recommendations from the Freeh report and we look forward to working with him to help improve all aspects of the claims process. BP spokesman Geoff Morrell said the report "confirms what BP has suspected for some time: there has been fraud and unethical conduct within the facility itself and among various claimants and their lawyers - and immediate steps need to be taken to prevent it in the future." "The evidence of conflicts of interest and misconduct assembled in Judge Freeh's report is shocking, but it simply underscores that neither BP nor the public has had any idea of what's really going on within the (settlement program)," Morrell said. Judge Freeh's continued investigation is essential to assuring public confidence in the integrity of the claims process. Two of the lead plaintiffs' lawyers who brokered the settlement with BP last year said Freeh's report "confirmed what we knew to be true all along: that Patrick Juneau has, for more than a year, led the Court-Supervised Settlement Program with integrity, transparency and objectivity." "It is a testament to Mr. Juneau's running of the program that Judge Freeh's recommended that the Settlement Program continue paying claims unabated, with Juneau at the helm," the attorneys, Stephen Herman and Jim Roy, said in a statement. While the report cites certain conduct within the program as problematic, Freeh said, "this should not prevent the (settlement program) from fairly and efficiently processing and paying honest and legitimate claims in a timely manner."