Yesterday on Thursday, Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) requested a federal judge to void the jury verdict that found the bank guilty and liable for fraud regarding defective mortgages that were sold by its Countrywide business unit. The verdict ended in a charge of a $1.27 billion.

The bank asked the United States District Attorney judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan to overturn the jury rule, on the basis of law or to get a new trial. Bank of America argued that the evidence presented at the trial did not support the jury’s verdict in October 2013.

According to the bank, the prosecutors at trail were required to provide proof that the loans came from Countrywide Financial Corp through a process known as “hustle.” Then the prosecutors proved that these loans were sold to mortgage finance giants of the government, including Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. The key issue was proving that these loans were not as good as they were represented to be by Bank of America.

According to Bank of America’s lawyers, the evidence brought up in the trail did not prove that Bank of America was guilty of fraud under this standard, even from a viewpoint that was most favorable to the government.

Preet Bharara, a spokeswoman from the Manhattan United States Attorney, and her office brought the case to a close in 2012. Bharara refused a request for a statement. Bharara and her office is expected to respond to the bank’s request by September 18^th.

This request by the bank was announced just a week following the announcement that Bank of America agreed that it would pay a record high settlement of $16.65 with the United States government. This penalty was a result of court charges that Bank of America and companies that it acquired had mislead investors into buying problem securities that were backed by mortgages.

The settlement did a lot to solving the company’s issues with the federal lawsuits and government questioning as a result of its involvement in the financial crisis. However, the settlement did not solve the case prior to Rakoff. According to Bank of America, it would appeal that decision as well.

The lawsuit involving the bank was focused on a program known to insiders in the industry as the High Speed Swim Lane, also known as HSSL or Hustle. The government began in 2007 at Bank of America’s Countrywide business, which was acquired by the larger bank in 2008.

According to the government, the program pushed quantity rather than quality of securities. Employees were rewarded and given incentives for granting more loans and getting rid of checkpoints that were meant to guarantee the quality of the loans.

Last year in 2013, a jury decided that Bank of America and Rebecca Mairone, a former mid tier executive from Countrywide, to be guilty of and liable for fraud.

In accordance with the decision last month in July, Rakoff ordered that Bank of America was to pay a penalty of $1.27 billion and Mairone was to pay a penalty of $1 million.

The judge of the case described the Hustle program as a vehicle for brazen fraud, from start to finish. The evidence of fraud was ample.

The case in question is named U.S. ex rel O’Donnell v. Bank of America Corp et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No 12-01422

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