Paulson Seeks to Dismiss Investment Lawsuit

Paulson & Co asked a judge to dismiss a lawsuit accusing the firm of conspiring with Goldman Sachs Group Inc to get a bond insurer to guarantee payments on an investment allegedly designed to fail.

In a filing in New York on Monday, Paulson said it "made no misrepresentations" to ACA Financial Guaranty about the collateralized debt obligation known as Abacus.

ACA brought the $120 million complaint against Goldman in 2011 and amended its lawsuit in January, adding Paulson & Co and its hedge fund, Paulson Credit Opportunities Master II Ltd, as defendants.

The amended complaint claims Goldman and Paulson deceived ACA into believing Paulson was investing in the CDO. Paulson eventually took a short position on the CDO.

Paulson said it had nothing to do with how Goldman offset its risk or how Abacus was sold to investors.

"By its nature, a synthetic CDO like Abacus must have a long and a short," Paulson said in its filing. "Paulson entered into a credit default swap with Goldman to take a short position on it. Paulson's obligations ended there."

ACA relies on "mischaracterizations, emails unrelated to Abacus, and snippets of correspondence taken out of context," Paulson said.

Michael DuVally, a spokesman for Goldman, declined comment.

Goldman settled with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for $550 million in 2010 over claims it misled investors in Abacus, without admitting wrongdoing.

The case is ACA Financial Guaranty Corp v Goldman Sachs & Co, 650027/2011, New York state Supreme Court (New York County).

(Reporting by Karen Freifeld; Editing by Ryan Woo)