That's how federal authorities are portraying a Michigan man who is facing criminal charges for filing a phony claim to recover money from oil giant BP, claiming the gulf coast oil spill caused his ice cream business in Florida to suffer financially, according to a complaint filed Friday in federal court in Detroit.
Kevin Hall of Davison is facing mail fraud charges for trying to hit BP up for $9,000, claiming that is how much his K&B Ice Cream stand in Pensacola, Fla., suffered as a result of the oil spill.
Trouble is, the complaint says, no such ice cream business exists in Pensacola, or in any Florida regulatory books.
In court documents, U.S. Secret Service Agent Kimberlee Fitzgerald offered a detailed account of how authorities caught onto Hall, and the lengths he went to for $9,000.
Fitzgerald's account says that on June 20, Hall filed a claim for lost revenue with BP. He provided a detailed business plan for a store at 10 Portofino Drive, a balance sheet that claimed total assets of $25,000, and three receipts for products allegedly purchased from Ice Cream Wholesale of Florida.
In August, Hall was assigned a claim number by the Gulf Coast Claims Facility (GCCF), but his claim raised red flags. He had e-mailed GCCF at least 10 times in one week, once requesting that an emergency payment be deposited into an account at Palm Desert National Bank in San Ramon, Calif.
On Nov. 23, Fitzgerald was contacted for help. Her investigation revealed the following: There was no ice cream stand at 10 Portofino Drive, but rather a spa and resort whose owners said they had never heard of Kevin Hall, his business, nor ever authorized his ice cream stand; the receipts from the ice cream wholesaler were fake, and the bank account he wanted money deposited into was a prepaid Visa debit card.
Fitzgerald requested a warrant be issued for Hall's arrest.
Hall is expected to be arrested today.
Efforts to reach Hall in Davison were unsuccessful. One Kevin Hall reached by phone said he was not the Hall wanted by authorities. Another phone number listed under his name was disconnected.