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July 2 (Reuters) - Former FBI Director Louis Freeh willinvestigate possible misconduct by a lawyer involved in makingpayments to settle claims by people and businesses affected bythe BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, the judge inthe spill damages case said on Tuesday.
Freeh, who recently stepped down as trustee for collapsedbrokerage MF Global Holdings Ltd and previously led an internal investigation into the Penn State University sex abuse scandal,was named a "special master" by Judge Carl Barbier, who ishearing the civil case over the spill in New Orleans federalcourt.
BP had called for an independent inquiry into an allegationthat a lawyer working for the administrator of the payments hadreferred claims to a New Orleans law firm in exchange for ashare of subsequent settlement payments.
"The court has concluded that in order to ensure theintegrity of the program for the benefit of the parties and thepublic, an independent, external investigation of this mattershould be performed," Barbier wrote in his ruling.
In a statement on Tuesday, BP welcomed Freeh's appointmentand said he had been granted "wide latitude" to look for otherpossible misconduct within the Court Supervised SettlementProgram (CSSP).
An internal probe by the CSSP is already under way, wroteBarbier, who noted that Freeh's current firm, the Freeh Group,had experience in conducting a wide range of investigations.
The trial under Barbier to determine blame and overalldamages from the Gulf spill is ongoing, while a U.S. appealscourt on July 8 is set to hear a case brought by BP about theway payouts are being made by the CSSP.
BP has no control over its payments to claimants, havingagreed to a compensation formula and framework in a legalsettlement covering certain personal and business liabilities.
While the company insists the formula is beingmisinterpreted, claims administrator Patrick Juneau disagrees,and the process Juneau is leading has been upheld by Barbier.
The case under Barbier is in re: Oil Spill by the Oil Rig"Deepwater Horizon" in the Gulf of Mexico, on April 20, 2010,U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana, No.10-md-02179. The appeal is "BP Exploration & Production Inc etal. vs Lake Eugenie Land & Development Inc, et al." in the U.S.Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, No. 13-30329.
