The trial against Bank of America Corp's Countrywide unit has begun and the prosecutor has stated that the company placed profits over quality in a "massive fraud" selling shoddy mortgages to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
The claim came at the start of the first case by the government to go to trial against a major bank over defective mortgage practices leading up to the 2008 financial crisis. Pierre Armand, a lawyer in the civil division of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan, said Countrywide made $165 million selling loans that it promised were investment quality to Fannie and Freddie. "What documents and witnesses will show is that the promise of quality was largely a joke," Armand said.
We will post any important or interesting pieces of information that are reported from the trial. For more information, see 'Massive fraud' at center of trial against BofA over U.S. mortgages
