A U.S. appeals court threw out a jury’s finding that Bank of America was liable for mortgage fraud leading up to the 2008 financial crisis, voiding a $1.27 billion penalty. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York found insufficient proof under federal fraud statutes to establish Bank of America's liability over a mortgage program called “Hustle,” run by the former Countrywide Financial Corp.
The Justice Department claimed Countrywide, which Bank of America bought in July 2008, defrauded Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac by selling them thousands of toxic loans. But in a 3-0 decision, U.S. Circuit Judge Richard Wesley said the evidence at most showed that Countrywide breached contracts to sell investment-quality loans, and that there was no proof it intended any deception.
“The trial evidence fails to demonstrate the contemporaneous fraudulent intent necessary to prove a scheme to defraud through contractual promises,” Wesley wrote, as reported by Reuters.
Bank of America said it was pleased with the ruling. The lawsuit was filed in 2012 following a whistleblower's complaint, and remains one of the biggest government enforcement cases to go to trial in connection with the U.S. housing meltdown and financial crisis.
A federal jury had in 2013 found Bank of America and Rebecca Mairone, a former mid-level Countrywide executive, liable for fraudulently selling shoddy loans originated through its “High Speed Swim Lane” program, also called HSSL or Hustle.
Following the verdict, U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in 2014 imposed a $1.27 billion penalty on Bank of America and ordered Mairone to pay $1 million.
Bank of America was sued under the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act of 1989. The Justice Department has relied on FIRREA for several financial crisis-linked cases in part because it provides 10 years from the time of the alleged fraud to bring cases.