As the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries reports, a New Orleans couple named Derwin and Diana Hill were found guilty of forging a recreational fishing license so they could claim settlement money from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
In the wake of the disaster, Diana altered a 2011/2012 fishing license to appear as if it were issued for the 2010/2011 season, when the spill occurred. With the forged document, Derwin filed two claims with the Gulf Coast Claims Facility, totaling nearly $20,000, for damages resulting from not being able to fish because of the oil.
However, law enforcement eventually caught wind of the couple’s ploy, and the Hills received no money for the claims. Agents arrested the couple in February, and this month a judge ordered them to each pay a $1,500 fine and serve two years probation.
Read the DWF’s release about the Hill family’s fraudulent-license scheme here.
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Cover image: Phototreat/Thinkstock.