Lying, Cheating, and Stealing Seminar 2023

On Wednesday, October 4, Michael Collyard presented at the Anthony Ostlund Louwagie Dressen & Boylan P.A.’s 2023 Lying, Cheating, and Stealing Seminar on a session titled, “Criminals, Bankers, and Document Destruction: The Aiding and Abetting that Led To a $1 Billion Dollar Judgment and the Biggest Jury Verdict in Minnesota History.”

In November 2022, a federal jury found BMO Harris Bank liable for $564 million for aiding and abetting breach of fiduciary duty in connection with the Petters Ponzi scheme. With pre- and post-judgment interest, the judgment against BMO is over $1 billion. The jury heard evidence that Petters’ bank ignored clear red flags of his lying, cheating, and stealing, yet continued to enable his Ponzi scheme, and later destroyed documents to cover the bank’s tracks. This presentation used Kelley v. BMO Harris Bank, N.A. as a framework to discuss bringing aiding and abetting claims to trial, including lessons learned from the case.