Lehman Brothers Holdings is suing several units of Citigroup to recover $2.5bn (€1.88bn) it transferred to a back-up account at Citi months before seeking bankruptcy court protection.

The court-appointed New York-based trustee trying to recover losses for victims of Bernard Madoff has accused HSBC of fuelling the disgraced financier’s massive fraud.

Beleaguered energy company Enron has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US, the firm said.