Cuomo Sues Ernst & Young Over ‘Major’ Lehman Fraud

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New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo sued Ernst & Young LLP, accusing the firm of facilitating a “major accounting fraud” by helping Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. deceive the public about its financial condition.

For more than seven years before Lehman declared bankruptcy in 2008, the investment bank engaged in transactions approved by Ernst & Young whose purpose was to move debt off its balance sheet and make it appear less leveraged, Cuomo said in a statement. This was done through what are known as “Repo 105” transactions.