By JAMES FINK
jfink@bizjournals.com | 716-541-1611

Sen. Charles Schumer is pressing U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to open a criminal investigation into allegations that beleaguered oil industry behemoth British Petroleum engaged in an illegal deal that resulted in Pan Am Flight 103 bomber Abdel Baset al-Megrahi being released from prison in exchange for BP securing access to Libyan oil fields.

Schumer, in Buffalo Monday, said Holder can investigate and potentially prosecute under guidelines defined in the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. BP and its officials could be held criminally liable.

"A blood deal is a blood money deal," Schumer said during his press conference in downtown Buffalo's Michael Dillon Federal Courthouse. "It can't be disguised."

Schumer alleges BP pressured the British government for Baset al-Megrahi's release from prison - a move that he said allowed the company access to the lucrative Libyan oil fields. BP officials declined to comment on Schumer's allegations.

Baset al-Megrahi was convicted and sentenced for his role in the December 1988 explosion that destroyed the Pan Am flight bound for New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport. The plane took off from London's Heathrow Airport.

All 259 people onboard were killed, as well as 11 people on the ground. Among the passengers were 189 Americans. Several of them were Syracuse University students, including Western New York native Colleen Brunner.

He was convicted in 2001 but last year was released, allegedly because he was suffering from prostate cancer and had just months to live.

Baset al-Megrahi returned to a hero's welcome in Libya and now lives in an oceanside villa. Doctors allegedly falsified medical records to allow for Baset al-Megrahi to be released.

"It is time for a criminal investigation," Schumer said.

New York's senior senator, himself an attorney, said although the case is clouded with circumstantial evidence, it remains a strong and prosecutable one.

"I'd like to be the prosecutor on this one," Schumer said.

British Prime Minister David Cameron, who was scheduled to meet with President Obama this week, said he thinks the release of Baset al-Megrahi was "completely and utterly wrong."