NEW YORK (October 24, 2012)—U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, said Wednesday he's suing Bank of America for $1 billion for mortgage fraud against Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Bharara said Countrywide, which was later bought by Bank of America, had procedures designed to process loans at high speed and generated thousands of fraudulent loans.

Bharara said it's the first civil fraud suit brought by the Justice Department concerning loans that were later sold to Fannie and Freddie.