Bloomberg reported that as many as nine current and former employees of Standard & Poor’s may be questioned by U.S. Justice Department lawyers as part of a fraud lawsuit against the ratings company. The Justice Department has accused S&P of lying about its ratings being free of conflicts of interest and may seek as much as $5 billion civil penalties.

Bloomberg said, according to a report filed in a federal court, the government has scheduled depositions of six current collateralized-debt obligation analysts in addition to scheduling depositions of another employee and two ex-employees.

Bloomberg notes that S&P will seek evidence that the lawsuit was political retribution by the government because it was the only ratings company to downgrade U.S. debt in 2011.

Click here to read the full Bloomberg article.

Previously on abfjournal:
Reuters: U.S. Says States’ S&P Suits Belong in State Courts, August 5, 2013