American Savings Bank has hired a high-profile Washington, D.C., attorney as it faces a federal investigation into its response to the alleged theft by a bank employee of hundreds of thousands of dollars from a customer.

Michael Bromwich of Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP is a former inspector general at the U.S. Department of Justice and was part of the federal government's legal team that prosecuted Iran-Contra figure Oliver North in the late 1980s.

"The bank is committed to cooperating with the government," Bromwich said in a telephone interview yesterday.

American Savings' spokeswoman Dawn Dunbar declined to discuss Bromwich's role at the bank.

In separate Aug. 2 lawsuits, American Savings Bank's former security director Bert Corniel and 91-year-old Ada Lim alleged that a bank operations supervisor at the Hawai'i Kai branch took $600,000 from Lim and used some of the money to purchase a condominium.

Lim and Corniel said that the bank didn't take the proper steps to address the supervisor's conduct and attempted to cover up her actions to avoid reporting the alleged fraud to federal banking regulators.

American Savings' CEO Constance Lau said in a written statement last month that the bank "did not in any way, shape or form cover up anything."

Lim settled her lawsuit with the bank last week. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed. Corniel's suit is still pending.

No criminal charges have been filed. The FBI seized Corniel's computer at American Savings' downtown offices last month and has interviewed a number of people connected to the case.

Federal prosecutors and the FBI have declined comment.

Bromwich is known for a 1997 report he authored that criticized the FBI's crime lab for its handling of evidence in the Oklahoma City bombing case and the first World Trade Center terrorist attack. At the time Bromwich was the inspector general at the Justice Department.

Since entering private practice in 1999, Bromwich has represented several companies and individuals who were subjects of state and federal investigations. He also has represented clients in the banking, pharmaceutical and accounting industries.

Last year, Bromwich was hired by the city of Houston to serve as the independent investigator for the Houston Police Department Crime Lab and Property Room, which was accused of mishandling evidence in several criminal cases.

Bromwich also was hired by the state of Delaware last year at a rate of $425 an hour after the Justice Department opened an investigation into healthcare problems in the state's prison system, according to the Wilmington News Journal.

Bromwich will be assisted on the American Savings case by Fried Frank partner Thomas Vartanian, who is an expert in banking law and is a former general counsel for the Federal Home Loan Bank Board and the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation.

Established in 1925, American Savings is the state's third largest financial institution with $6.7 billion in assets.

Reach Rick Daysog at rdaysog@honoluluadvertiser.com.