Ken Lewis
Bank of America's, Ken Lewis, Dupes Shareholders
New York, New York
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has accused Bank of America Corp, former CEO Ken Lewis and former CFO Joe Price of “duping shareholders and the federal government” to complete the bank’s purchase of Merrill Lynch & Co. last year.
Cuomo filed a lawsuit Thursday against the Charlotte, N.C.-based bank (NYSE: BAC) and its previous top executives in New York Supreme Court.
The suit contends BofA and the executives intentionally hid information that Merrill Lynch was suffering huge losses so that shareholders would approve the deal. Then, they manipulated the federal government into saving the deal with a massive bailout by threatening — falsely, Cuomo contends — to back out of the deal unless the bank received billions in taxpayer funds.