New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has apparently decided to file a lawsuit on behalf of shareholders of Bank Of America against the former Chief Executive Officer Ken Lewis.

Cuomo alleges that Lewis and other executives at Bank of America purposely lied about mounting losses for Merrill Lynch in 2008 so shareholders would not sell their investments in Bank of America. Bank of America had of course acquired Merrill Lynch during the banking crisis and people like Ken Lewis wanted to reassure investors that it was a sound move that would make them money in the long run. Cuomo says that Lewis did this by misrepresenting the facts partially because Lewis did not want to lose any of his golden parachute agreement by being labeled as a bad Chief Executive Officer.

Lewis may say in his defense that he did nothing that a good Chief Executive Officer wouldn’t try to do and that is to defend your company and the choices they happen to make as a business.

Lewis may also say given that Andrew Cuomo will now be making his second bid for the Governorship of New York that this lawsuit may be a good election year ploy in order to please voters.