Washington Mutual (WaMu), formerly one of the nation’s most prestigious banks and alleged holder of over $307 billion in assets, is suing the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation for more than $13 billion over the roll-up of its banking division into JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Washington Mutual was seized by federal regulators in Sept. 2008; the company filed for bankruptcy immediately thereafter. The ensuing investigation “one of the largest and most complex federal investigations ever undertaken in Western Washington,” a US Attorney told the Seattle Times

“In a complaint filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the thrift’s former parent accused the FDIC of having on January 23 made a ‘cryptic disallowance’ of its claims, prompting the lawsuit,” reported Reuters. “It also accused the FDIC of agreeing to an unreasonably low price in arranging the a $1.9 billion sale of the banking business to JPMorgan on September 25, when regulators seized Washington Mutual and appointed the FDIC as receiver.”

“On a Friday night in September 2008, the government forced WaMu into a shotgun marriage with new owners at pennies on the dollar. The FDIC seized the bank and then sold it to JPMorgan Chase for $1.9 billion,” reported MSNBC. “[A] federal task force continues to comb through a mountain of documents looking into possible criminal charges against WaMu executives. It’s looking for fraud in how the company built such an unstable business based on subprime mortgages.”