Bank of America Sues Bear Stearns Execs

The case against Ralph Cioffi and Matt Tannin, who were indicted for allegedly lying to investors about the state of two Bear Stearns hedge funds that collapsed in June 2007, has now spilled into civil court. Bank of America has filed suit against Cioffi, Tannin and a third Bear Stearns exec for hiding the funds' poor health in order to draw the bank into a complicated $4 billion transaction in which mortgage-backed securities controlled by the funds were pooled to support the sale of other securities.