Citigroup files third lawsuit over accidental Revlon payment

FILE PHOTO: A woman walks past a Citibank logo displayed outside the Citibank Plaza in Hong Kong

(Reuters) - Citigroup Inc filed a third lawsuit on Friday in its latest attempt to recoup nearly $1 billion it mistakenly sent to lenders of Revlon Inc.

The third largest U.S. bank has so far sued a dozen firms after an "operational error" that caused it to transfer $900 million of its own funds to Revlon creditors one day after the troubled cosmetics company was sued over its restructuring tactics.

Several hundred million has already been returned the bank, Citi said in an emailed statement. But it has had to take legal action to recover over $500 million from lenders who are refusing to return the payment.

"All of the funds owed to Citi have now either been returned or frozen by court order," the bank said in the statement. "We believe the law is on our side and that we will recover the outstanding funds.”

(Reporting by Imani Moise; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Sonya Hepinstall)