Nomura sued by Japan shipping firm for Madoff deal

TOKYO (Reuters) - Nomura Holdings, Japan's largest investment bank, has been sued by a mid-sized shipping firm seeking $5.1 million in damages for allegedly brokering an investment with convicted U.S. swindler Bernard Madoff.

An official at Inui Steamship Co said it filed the lawsuit with the Tokyo District Court last month, claiming that Nomura sold it dollar-denominated securities that were invested with Madoff.

The official asked not to be named and did not provide further details.

Banks globally are settling claims brought by investors alleging they were wrongly steered into investments with Madoff, who is serving a 150-year prison term after pleading guilty to orchestrating a massive Ponzi scheme.

Nomura too has suffered from its exposure to Madoff, which it estimated at 27.5 billion yen at the end of 2008. That exposure was a contributing factor in the broker's posting of a record loss in the October-December 2008 quarter.

Nomura spokesman Kenji Yamashita confirmed that Inui had filed the suit but declined to elaborate, including about whether it was dealing with other lawsuits.

Details of Inui's complaint and Nomura's response were unavailable from the court on Tuesday.

The second hearing in the Inui case is scheduled to be held on July 8, a court official said.

A Ponzi scheme is one in which corrupt money managers use funds from some clients to pay other clients. The scheme collapses when they are eventually unable to meet redemptions.

(Reporting by Junko Fujita; Editing by Louise Heavens)

($1=91.05 Yen)