Dick Fuld, the former chief executive of Lehman Brothers, has launched an attack on the court-appointed examiner who criticized the bank's use of the controversial Repo 105 accounting measure.
In the months before the bank's collapse, Repo 105 was used to keep $50 billion worth of debt off Lehman Brothers' balance sheet by reclassifying repurchase agreements as outright asset sales.
Anton Valukas, the man who spent a year investigating the fall of the bank, was critical of the measure and of the executives who allowed it to happen.
But Mr Fuld has now struck back at Mr Valukas in a statement which also attacked the way the story has been reported in the media.
"The examiner's report distorted the relevant facts, and the press, in turn, distorted the examiner's report," he said. "The result is that Lehman and its people have been unfairly vilified."
Last week, the New York Times reported that Lehman Brothers also engaged in the practice of temporarily transferring risky investments to a small company named Hudson Castle.
Hudson Castle was set up to appear to be independent, but was actually controlled by Lehman Brothers, the report alleged.
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