Regions Bank, which held accounts for a husband-and-wife duo accused of operating a multimillion-dollar check-kiting scheme through their 170-office temporary staffing company, has been ordered to produce attorney-client communications amid allegations the bank knew of the ongoing fraud.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Caryl E. Delano in Tampa granted the motion by bankruptcy trustees Angela Welch and Christine Herendeen to compel attorney-client and work-product communications stemming from the bankruptcy matter of agency owners Frank and Anne Mongelluzzi, who had 61 accounts with Regions for Clearwater-based Able Body Labor.

Delano's ruling dove into the intricacies of the at-issue doctrine in Florida's privilege rules, which prevents a party from withholding privileged documents if their state of mind has been offered as part of their defense — in Regions case, its good faith.