New York (HedgeCo.Net) – Barclays Bank Plc has sued Chicago-based Ritchie Capital Management and the hedge fund’s principal Thane Ritchie, accusing them of concealing a $150 million investment in the controversial and now collapsed Petters Group Worldwide LLC.

According to the complaint filed on November 18^th, Thane Ritchie gave the go-ahead to invest “significant sums” from two of Petters’ hedge funds, at a time when the funds were “supposed to be winding down.”

Barclays is seeking $380 million they believed they are owed from Ritchie and 19 other related businesses.

“Barclays’ lawsuit lacks merit as a matter of law and is premised upon inaccurate and misleading factual contentions,” said Justin Meise of River Communications who handled Ritchie’s public relations. “We will vigorously defend this baseless action.”

Tom Petters, head of the now bankrupt Petters group is being held without bail in a Minnesota jail after suspicions of leading a $3 billion fraud. Although Petters is in custody, he has not yet been charged with anything.

Ritchie has claimed that they lost a total of $275 million in the Petters matter. Ritchie Structured Investments Ltd. And Ritchie Targeted Investments Ltd, the two hedge funds being targeted by Barclays, are ironically not listed on Petters’ debt schedule.

Ritchie set a precedent earlier this year when a Chicago judge denied a request by investors to open up Ritchie’s books after its Multi-Strategy Fund experienced losses.

Julie Scuderi
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Bloomberg – Ritchie Capital Management and Thane Ritchie, the hedge fund manager’s principal, were sued by Barclays Bank Plc over accusations they concealed more than $150 million in investments made in the collapsed Petters Group Worldwide LLC and affiliates.

Now bankrupt, Petters Group, based in Minnetonka, Minnesota, was raided in September by FBI agents acting on information that the company may have cheated at least 20 investors. Principal Tom Petters, accused of leading a $2 billion fraud, is being held without bail in a Minnesota jail.

“Thane Ritchie made the decision to invest significant sums” from two of his firm’s hedge funds with Petters, at a time when those funds “were supposed to be winding down,” Barclays said in a complaint filed Nov. 18 in Illinois state court in Chicago.

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Newsday – A federal probe of the $1.8-billion collapse of Bear Stearns hedge funds has spread to include the activities of a number of banks and other lenders, according to court records and legal sources.

Investigators are also reviewing various private financial memorandums prepared by Bear Stearns officials for possible fraud against wealthy investors, said the sources.

One of the banks that may have been defrauded in the case was Barclays Bank PLC, the British institution that last year filed a federal lawsuit against Bear Stearns & Co. Inc. over losses from the hedge fund, said one attorney familiar with the case.

Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn are overseeing the Bear Stearns case while other Wall Street probes are being carried out by federal officials in Manhattan, said attorney Andrew Entwistle, who is representing investors suing the parent Bear Stearns Companies Inc. and affiliates.

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