US Sues Bank of America for $1B in 'Hustle' Scheme

The Justice Department has filed a $1 billion lawsuit against Bank of America over an alleged mortgage scheme known as the "Hustle" invented by its Countrywide unit. According to Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara, Bank of America and Countrywide developed a procedure to rapidly generate thousands of toxic loans that later defaulted to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Reuters and the AP report. It's Bharara's sixth lawsuit against a major bank in the last year and a half, but the first over bad loans sold to Fannie and Freddie. (More Justice Department stories.)