Alleged bank fraud and politics mix

As if banks don't have enough trouble, now Bank of America, and possibly other financial institutions that may have misled Florida's pension fund, may come under investigation by Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum, the leading Republican candidate for governor.

At least that's what McCollum's likely general election opponent in the governor's race, Alex Sink, is asking to happen. Sink, a Democrat, is the state's chief financial officer

On Feb. 4, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo filed suit against BofA and two former top executives for allegedly defrauding its shareholders and taxpayers by failing to disclose mounting losses at Merrill Lynch. Cuomo's lawsuit asserts that BofA's shareholders were unaware of critical information tied to the bank's acquisition of Merrill.

Sink sent a letter to McCollum Feb. 5 calling for “an aggressive action plan” against the bank and any other financial institutions if its actions “misled Florida's pension fund.”

In the letter, Sink, a former BofA executive, requests her gubernatorial rival to “immediately review” whether the alleged fraud by BofA and its executives has resulted in losses to Floridians. Sink wrote, “If former top executives at Bank of America committed the fraud outlined in Attorney General Cuomo's suit, those executives must be held accountable not only to the people of New York, but also to the people of Florida.”