U.S. sued Bank of America over alleged mortgage fraud

The United States on Wednesday filed a civil mortgage fraud lawsuit against Bank of America Corp , accusing it of deliberately generating and then selling thousands of toxic home loans that later defaulted to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac .

U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara in Manhattan said in a statement that the sales had resulted in more than $1 billion of losses and "countless" foreclosures. He said the case is the U.S. Department of Justice's first civil fraud lawsuit over mortgage loans sold to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)