BP files fraud suit to cut oil spill seafood
fund payout - (www.cnbc.com) BP filed
a fraud lawsuit in U.S. court on Tuesday to halt some of the $2.3 billion it
set aside to compensate commercial fishermen for losses claimed after the
British oil company's 2010 offshore oil spill, the biggest in U.S. history. The
latest court action by BP seeking to reduce payments from the spill alleges
that part of a group of fishermen hurt by the spill, clients of lawyer Mikal C.
Watts, did not exist. "We now know that over half of Watts' alleged
clients were phantoms: individuals never represented by Watts, in a number of
cases not even commercial fishermen, and in some instances individuals who are
deceased," BP said in its court filing. Watts's law office did not provide
immediate comment. BP said about $1 billion has already been paid out from the
its so-called Seafood Compensation Fund, including payments to eight people
represented by Watts.
Unsettling
time for real-estate debtors and investors - (www.seattletimes.com) For
one of the least productive congressional sessions in modern history, the final
word about tax reform recently was entirely in character: Nothing’s happening. But
is that good news or bad news for homeowners, buyers and small-scale real
estate investors? A bit of both. It was a sweet-sour mix when U.S. Rep. Dave
Camp, R-Mich., House Ways and Means Committee chairman, announced that not only
will he not reveal the details of his long-awaited tax-reform bill this year
but he will not seek passage of a so-called “extenders” bill for expiring
tax-code benefits. Camp’s big reform bill — which would attempt to lower
individual and corporate income-tax rates to a maximum 25 percent, is expected
to call for significant cutbacks — possibly elimination — of prized real estate
deductions for home mortgage interest, local property taxes and other
write-offs in order to pay for lower marginal rates.
India
removes barriers to US embassy as anger grows over diplomat's arrest - (www.in.reuters.com) Authorities
removed concrete security barriers in front of the U.S. embassy in New Delhi on
Tuesday in apparent retaliation for the arrest and allegedly heavy-handed
treatment of an Indian diplomat in New York. New Delhi police used tow trucks
and a backhoe loader to drag away long concrete blocks from roads running past
the embassy and leading up to gates of the compound, a Reuters witness said.
The barriers had prevented vehicles approaching at high speeds. Police and
government officials refused to respond to repeated requests for comment on why
the embassy barricades were taken away. But Indian television networks, citing
unnamed sources, reported that the removal was one of several retaliatory
measures that India planned to take.
Alabama county where indicted revenue
commissioner quit could be out $400 - or millions - (www.foxnews.com) An Alabama county faces a financial mystery. The
criminal charge against former Marshall County Revenue Commissioner Joey
Masters is serious, but hardly jaw-dropping. He's accused on a misdemeanor
count of taking a few hundred dollars from a petty cash fund. But a civil
lawsuit contends the allegations are but a pin prick in a scandal that cost the
county nearly as much as its annual budget of nearly $23 million. Masters'
lawyer denies the lawsuit's claims, and the county commission chairman says the
allegations are far-fetched. He says Marshall County is in good shape
financially. A state audit released last year does say there were some $17
million in assessment errors in Marshall County, and all the money wasn't made
up.
Russia to cut Ukraine gas price by one-third - (www.cnbc.com) Russia has agreed to cut the price of gas
supplies to Ukraine by about one-third to $268.5 per 1,000
cubic meters, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday. Putin said it
was a temporary move but did not elaborate. He also said after talks with
Ukraine's president that Russia would convert $15 billion worth of its National
Welfare Fund—a rainy day fund into Ukrainian securities to help it stave off a
financial crisis.
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