Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. says Stephen Ross's Related Cos. and Barclays Group PLC were part of a group of swaps market players that "manipulated" the closeouts of derivatives contracts at the expense of Lehman and its creditors, MarketWatch.com reported yesterday. In an amended complaint filed on Tuesday with U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York, Lehman said that after it collapsed in 2008, LCOR Alexandria LLC — a firm partially owned by Related — sought about $6.7 million from Lehman to close out a derivatives contract, even though Lehman was actually the one owed about $42 million. Lehman originally filed the suit against LCOR in November 2013, seeking about $83 million in principal and interest. The new suit, which also names a Related Cos. employee and other parties, seeks more than $15 million in some of the nine counts but an "amount to determined at trial" for some others. Lehman, which added Barclays to the suit in December 2014, said that the bank participated in the "scheme" by providing a below-market value "replacement" swap to LCOR. The complaint against Barclays alleges that the bank aided and abetted a breach of fiduciary duty, as well as breaching its agreement to purchase the assets of Lehman's brokerage in 2008.
