ING Group Sues J.P. Morgan, Deloitte

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ING Sues J.P. Morgan, Deloitte


NEW YORK (Reuters) - ING Group NV ING.AS sued J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. JPM.N and accounting firm Deloitte & Touche on Monday, accusing them of participating in what ING charged was a "massive Ponzi scheme" carried out by National Century Financial Enterprises, a bankrupt health-care financing company.
ING, the Netherlands' largest financial services group, said it lost hundreds of millions of dollars in the scheme. Its suit, filed in Manhattan federal court, seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.

Chase had acted as a trustee for National Century-related bonds and Deloitte had audited the company's financial statement.
ING charged in its suit that the scheme would not have been possible without the defendants' participation.

Spokeswomen for both J.P. Morgan Chase and Deloitte & Touche declined to comment on the suit.

The case comes one month after a former executive of Dublin, Ohio-based National Century pleaded guilty to securities-fraud charges involving the scheme, which cost investors more than $1 billion. The company's collapse also helped drive hundreds of health-care providers into bankruptcy..>> MORE >>

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