A new lawsuit seeks to hold M&I Bank, now owned by BMO Harris Bank, responsible for allegedly enabling Minnesota businessman Tom Petters to orchestrate a Ponzi scheme that cheated investors out of several billion dollars, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. Filed in a Florida bankruptcy court, the lawsuit seeks to recover nearly $24 billion from Chicago-based BMO Harris, which acquired M&I in 2011. The lawsuit says that Petters "did not act alone" in carrying out the massive fraud that was exposed in 2008 and for which he is now serving a 50-year prison sentence. "M&I was complicit in the scheme, serving as a critical lynchpin 'legitimizing' Petters' plot and facilitating it," the lawsuit claims. "M&I had actual knowledge of Petters' fraud and provided substantial assistance, helping it flourish."
