Oregon Treasurer Ted Wheeler and Attorney General John Kroger today announced a lawsuit against former financial giant Bear Stearns & Co. to recover losses that were directly attributable to misleading filings in connection with mortgage-backed securities.
State Treasurer Ted Wheeler said, quote: “We believe that these junk investments were intentionally mislabeled and all Oregonians are still reeling from the economic fallout,” “If you hurt Oregonians financially, we are coming after you.” close quote.
The Oregon Public Employee Retirement Fund purchased over 57 million of the certificates in five different offerings in 2006 and 2007, at a price of $1 apiece – but the values of many of those securities dropped by more than half, according to the lawsuit.
The economic nosedive of 2007 and 2008 ultimately led to the demise of Bear Stearns. Rather than fall into bankruptcy, the company accepted a takeover bid by JP Morgan in 2008.
The lawsuit against Bear Stearns is Oregon’s second this year in connection with losses from misreported values of mortgage-backed securities. In July, the State Treasury authorized a lawsuit against Countrywide Financial Corp.
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