Hey, buddy, can you spare a billion? I know, I know — bad joke. But last week, Freddie Mac asked the bankruptcy judge handling Lehman’s bankruptcy to investigate $1.2 billion in claims it says Lehman hasn’t yet paid. That’s not a small chunk of change, for one thing. From Reuters, who reported on the story:

Freddie Mac, which was bailed out by the U.S. government last month, said it is missing $1.2 billion from two fund transactions conducted in August, according to court documents. It said the money was due to be repaid to Freddie Mac on September 15, the day Lehman filed for bankruptcy protection in the largest U.S. bankruptcy filing in history. Freddie Mac is seeking the return of the $1.2 billion plus interest.

Call it a hunch, but the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history is likely to have left a few very big, very empty bags in the hands of key creditors. It appears that Freddie Mac is officially one of them, although Lehman’s lawyers are claiming they need time to sort things out from the chaos of bankruptcy.