The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has filed a $300-million negligence lawsuit against four former executives at IndyMac Bank FSB, accusing them of granting loans to homebuilders who were unlikely to repay the loans.
The lawsuit, filed July 2 in federal court in Los Angeles, is the first professional liability suit the FDIC has brought in connection with the spate of more than 200 bank failures that began in 2008.
A FDIC spokesman noted that the agency has three years from the date of the failure to file civil cases.
During the S&L and bank crisis of 20 years ago the agency filed dozens of civil complaints against officers and directors of failed institutions, including one against then Vice President Bush's son, Neil Bush.
According to The Los Angeles Times, the defendants in the lawsuit have denied the allegations.
The four operated the Homebuilder Division at IndyMac and according to the government they approved 64 loans described in the 309-page lawsuit.
The defendants include: Scott Van Dellen, Richard Koon, Kenneth Shellem, and William Rothman.
