Woman set for trial in $150,000 BP oil spill fraud

A woman faces trial over $150,000 she allegedly received in oil-spill recovery money by falsely claiming she lost wages as a Holiday Inn manager in Biloxi.

Vanna Ly, formerly of Biloxi, did not work for Holiday Inn before or after the Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in April 2010, a federal indictment said.

A second indictment also filed in federal court alleges she made false statements in a bankruptcy petition and concealed her assets.

Ly, who now lives in New Orleans, is set for trial on a court calendar that starts Sept. 6. She also is known as Vanna Nguyen Ly and Van T. Nguyen, a court document said.

She pleaded not guilty to all charges June 28.

Ly was living in Biloxi when she submitted her claim for oil-spill recovery money. From October 2010 through December 2011, she conspired to obtain money for herself and others, an indictment said. Items submitted to support her claim included pay stubs dating to 2008, tax documents from 2008 and 2009, and a letter that reportedly confirmed her employment at the hotel during 2010.

An unnamed co-conspirator allegedly helped her acquire the supporting documents.

The other indictment involves a bankruptcy petition Ly filed Oct. 30, 2013, in Gulfport.

She did not disclose that she had been an owner of V Sushi Martini and Bar in New Orleans’ French Quarter or that she had sold property on Cedar Street in Biloxi, the indictment said. The bar and restaurant, which closed, was on the ground floor of an Iberville Street building with apartments on upper floors. The land she sold in Biloxi reportedly was used to build a parking lot for the Palace Casino.

Ly is charged with attempt and conspiracy to commit wire fraud in the oil spill case. Her other charges are concealment of assets and four counts of making false declarations in a bankruptcy proceeding.

She is free on an unsecured $25,000 bond. Her travel is restricted to eastern Louisiana and South Mississippi for court-related purposes.

This story was originally published July 7, 2016 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Woman set for trial in $150,000 BP oil spill fraud."