ST. PAUL, Minn. — BMO Financial Group must pay the bankruptcy trustees of Tom Petters $563.7 million in damages for the role a predecessor bank played in the multibillion-dollar fraud by the Minnesota businessman, a federal jury in St. Paul ruled Tuesday.
The judgment is believed to be the largest financial penalty ever handed out by a jury in a Minnesota courtroom, attorneys said. It's also the largest single verdict or settlement connected to the Petters fraud, which was the biggest in Minnesota history.
"Today's a good day. This is a fantastic outcome," said Michael Collyard of Robins Kaplan, the Minneapolis law firm representing Doug Kelley, court-appointed receiver in the bankruptcy that ensued after the Petters fraud scheme collapsed in 2008.
