The Victory: Robins Kaplan partner Michael A. Collyard and his small team won the largest jury award in a Ponzi scheme case in Minnesota history when the jury rejected arguments by the five defense-side firms, instead awarding $564 million in damages on behalf of client Douglas A. Kelley, the trustee for the BMO Litigation Trust, which represents a group of investors.
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The Case: Kelley v. BMO Harris Bank arose out of one of the biggest Ponzi schemes in U.S. history centering around a complex system of financial transaction between accounts at M&I Bank—which in 2011 was acquired by BMO Harris Bank—resulting in money laundering of $74 billion by fraudster Tom Petters, who has already been sentenced to 50 years in prison.
