When Rockville commercial mortgage company Criimi Mae Inc. filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1998, the company wasn't bankrupt in the way the average person might define the term. Criimi Mae had about $630 million more in assets than in liabilities, according to a Washington Post report at the time. But Criimi had invested billions in high-risk mortgage bonds, and their value plummeted after worldwide economic turmoil hit the mortgage bond market. .