The Associated Press reported that the bankruptcy trustee recovering money for victims of the $3.65 billion Ponzi scheme operated by now-imprisoned Minnesota businessman Tom Petters filed a lawsuit accusing a bank, since acquired by BMO Harris, of aiding the fraud by ignoring “astronomical” deposits.

The AP said the lawsuit filed in federal bankruptcy court accuses M&I Bank of turning a blind eye to $35 billion that flowed in and out of the main bank account used by Petters Company Inc. to launder money for the fraud between 2003 and 2008, when the scheme collapsed.

The article added that the bank, based in Milwaukee at the time, was acquired last year by Toronto-based BMO Financial Group and combined with BMO-owned Harris Bank of Chicago to form BMO Harris Bank.

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Previously on monitordaily GE Capital Agrees to Pay $19MM in Ponzi Scheme Settlement, May 31, 2012