Lehman gets a taste of the high cost of health care

Lehman Brothers, a big investment bank, may have been swindled out of $250 million, which was supposed to be used to buy medical equipment. From the Wall Street Journal:

Late last year, a unit of the New York-based investment bank issued loans to a fund run by a medical consulting company owned by LTT Bio-Pharma Co., a Japanese biotechnology company based in Tokyo. The funds, which were to be used to help provide trade financing for hospitals buying medical equipment, were secured with certificates from Marubeni Corp., one of Japan's biggest trading firms.Lehman grew concerned at the end of February when its funds were not repaid...The LTT Bio-Pharma subsidiary filed for bankruptcy protection on March 19.Lehman officials acknowledged that the firm has filed a criminal complaint with Japanese police about the situation. A spokesman says the firm believes Marubeni is responsible for repaying Lehman, which is studying how it might proceed.

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