March 29 (Bloomberg) -- Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. may have been cheated out of as much as $250 million in loans using forged documents said to be from Marubeni Corp., the Wall Street Journal said, citing a person familiar with the situation.

Lehman will take legal action to recover all of the funds that were ``fraudulently misappropriated'' in transactions through one of its affiliates, the New York-based investment bank said in an e-mailed statement to Bloomberg News. The statement didn't disclose the amount of the funds.

The loan was to help finance the purchase of medical equipment for hospitals through a company affiliated with LTT Bio- Pharma, a Tokyo-based biotechnology company, the Journal said.

A Marubeni spokesman contacted for comment on the story said he was not aware of any legal action by Lehman and would not let his name be published. A call to the main switchboard at LTT Bio- Pharma reached a recorded message saying the office is closed today and tomorrow.

To contact the reporter on this story: Oliver Biggadike in Tokyo at obiggadike@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: March 29, 2008 03:19 EDT