Prosecutors to intervene in Wilmington Trust lawsuit

(AP) – A federal judge is allowing prosecutors to intervene in an investor lawsuit against former Wilmington Trust officials as a criminal investigation into the bank’s collapse continues.

The judge granted the motion on Thursday. She said she would rule later on the Justice Department’s request to halt fact discovery in the securities lawsuit until the criminal case against several former top Wilmington Trust executives is resolved.
    
Former bank president Robert Harra Jr. and three other former executives are charged with fraud, conspiracy and making false statements to federal regulators.
    
The defendants are accused both criminally and civilly of concealing information about the bank’s deteriorating commercial real estate loan portfolio, which led to its hasty acquisition by M&T Bank in 2011.