Attorney General Mark Herring announced Friday that the Commonwealth of Virginia has recovered more than $63 million collectively from 11 banks to settle allegations that the banks misled the Commonwealth of Virginia and the Virginia Retirement System (VRS) through the sale of allegedly misrepresented residential mortgage-backed securities.
This is the largest non-healthcare-related recovery ever obtained in a suit alleging violations of the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act.
“This case breaks new ground for Virginia, recovering millions for Virginia taxpayers from banks that we alleged had misrepresented the products they sold to the Commonwealth,” said Attorney General Herring. “Today’s settlement, which represents significant relief to VRS, taxpayers and pensioners of the Commonwealth, is one of the largest of its kind in the nation.”
The Commonwealth has resolved all claims against all eleven financial institutions that were alleged to have harmed VRS, the taxpayers, and the pensioners of the Commonwealth through misrepresentation of the quality of residential mortgage backed securities sold to VRS. The defendants have admitted no liability, and the Commonwealth has dismissed the claims against the defendants with prejudice, in exchange for settlements of the following amounts:
Countrywide Securities Corporation and Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc. (combined): $19,500,000.00 in total
- RBS Securities Inc.: $10,000,000.00
- Barclays Capital Inc.: $9,000,000.00
- Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC: $6,900,000.00
- Deutsche Bank Securities Inc.: $5,621,897.00
- Citigroup Global Markets Inc.: $4,750,000.00
- Goldman, Sachs & Co.: $2,900,000.00
- HSBC Securities (USA) Inc.: $2,500,000.00
- Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC: $1,200,000.00
- UBS Securities LLC: $850,000.00
The case, styled Commonwealth of Virginia ex rel. Integra REC LLC v. Barclays et al., was initially filed in Richmond City Circuit Court by a relator, Integra REC, LLC, under the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act on behalf of the Commonwealth, and asserted both statutory and common law causes of action. Attorney General Herring intervened and brought the case on behalf of the Commonwealth of Virginia and the Virginia Retirement System. The Commonwealth sought to recover $383 million in alleged damages, including $250.66 million of realized losses.
Assistant Attorney General Peter E. Broadbent, III, Assistant Attorney General Adam J. Yost, and Deputy Attorney General Rhodes B. Ritenour represented the Commonwealth in this matter with assistance from Gregory G. Taylor, Fraud Against Taxpayers Act Analyst.
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