Citi’s $900 Million ‘Clerical Error’ Is Worst Wall Street Bungle in a Long Time
- Money was mistakenly sent to lenders suing the cosmetics giant
- HPS, Brigade among firms that haven’t returned money
This article is for subscribers only.
Even for Citigroup Inc., it was big money. On Wednesday, loan operations staff at the New York bank wired $900 million, seemingly on behalf of Revlon Inc., to lenders of the troubled cosmetics giant controlled by billionaire Ron Perelman.
It was a mistake for the ages -- a “clerical error,” as Citigroup told lenders -- that’s now plunged the bank into a battle between the Perelman empire and a corps of sharp-edged investment funds that have become its impatient creditors.