Japan’s Mizuho Bank gets dragged into Mt. Gox lawsuit

One of Japan’s largest lenders, Mizuho Bank Ltd, has became ensnared in the U.S. legal fallout from the collapse Mt. Gox, the leading bitcoin exchange that lost more than $400 million of customers’ digital currency. The Japanese bank was added as a defendant on Friday to an existing lawsuit against Mt. Gox for allegedly aiding in a fraud by providing banking services to the exchange. Mizuho held non-bitcoin currency on behalf of Tokyo-based Mt. Gox and its customers, according to the amended complaint by Gregory Greene, an Illinois resident who has said he lost $25,000 when Mt. Gox shut down last month. Mt. Gox said in February it may have lost 750,000 of its customers’ bitcoins in a hacking attack and filed for bankruptcy in Tokyo. Customers have suspected a massive fraud.