Lawyers for the owners of the Minnesota...

Lawyers for the owners of the Minnesota Timberwolves expansion basketball team asked a federal judge to help them recover $15 million lost in the collapse of Midwest Federal Savings and Loan.

Phillip Cole, attorney for Marv Wolfenson and Harvey Ratner, the owners of the team, said that in December of 1987 they were lured into buying $15 million in unsecured debts from Midwest Federal. Last February, government regulators declared Midwest Federal insolvent and the bank was placed under the control of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Attorneys for federal banking officials argued that interests of the thrift’s depositors come first.

Wolfenson and Ratner knew the $15-million investment was speculation and that they, like stockholders, would be paid after depositors if any assets were left, attorneys for the banking officials told the court.