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WaMu execs face federal lawsuit

Kerry Killinger, former Washington Mutual Bank president, chief executive office and chairman of the board, testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington.
Cliff Owen
/
AP Photo
Kerry Killinger, former Washington Mutual Bank president, chief executive office and chairman of the board, testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington.

Several former Washington Mutual executives have been notified by the federal government that they'll be sued over their role in the collapse of the Seattle-based bank.

The Puget Sound Business Journal reports that sources familiar with the suit say the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation intends to seek more than a billion dollars in damages.

To be named in the suit are:

  • Kerry Killinger, former WaMu CEO 
  • Steve Rotella, former president and chief operating officer 
  • David Schneider, former head of the bank’s home load division

All three executives have denied wrongdoing.

WaMu’s mortgage division is the subject of a massive shareholder lawsuit, and Congressional investigators have found hundreds of documents detailing fraud inside the bank’s mortgage division.

Federal regulators seized WaMu in September 2008 and sold it to J.P. Morgan Chase. It was the largest bank failure in U.S. history.