U.S. jury rules against Bank of America in lawsuit

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. jury decided that a unit of Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) defrauded several investors, including American International Group Inc (AIG.N) and other banks, by selling them low-value asset-backed securities.

The jury in U.S. District Court in Manhattan awarded the plaintiffs a total of $141 million, including interest, on Thursday after less than two days of deliberations.

"We are pleased with the outcome and grateful to the jury for their hard work over many weeks," said attorney David Spears, who represented all of the investors, except AIG.

The jury ruled in favor of the investors on all claims under federal securities laws and also claims under New York State common law for fraud.

Societe Generale SA (SGSN.VX), Travelers Cos Inc (TRV.N), the New York branch of Bank Leumi Le-Israel BM (LUMI.TA), Allstate Corp (ALL.N), Bayerische Landesbank (BLGGgg.F) and the International Finance Corp, an arm of the World Bank, were among the plaintiffs who won the lawsuit.

It was filed in 2001 and went to trial in late October this year before U.S. District Judge John Koeltl.

Bank of America spokeswoman Shirley Norton said in a statement that the bank was "evaluating all options" for judicial review of the verdict.

"We do not believe the verdict is supported by the evidence presented," the statement said.

The lawsuit said that Nationsbanc, a Bank of America unit it acquired in 1998, sold asset-backed securities based on consumer receivables at Richmond, Virginia-based furniture retailer Heilig-Meyers. The plaintiffs alleged that Nationsbanc made them appear to be high-quality receivables, when in fact they were of low quality.

"We are pleased with the verdict," an AIG spokesman said.

Heilig-Meyers was not a defendant in the case. It went bankrupt in 2000.

(Reporting by Grant McCool; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)