Paulson & Co. may be sued by investors who lost more than $1 billion on a mortgage-linked deal that regulators say was sold by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. without disclosing the hedge-fund firm’s role, lawyers said. Goldman Sachs yesterday was accused of fraud by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for failing to tell clients that Paulson, run by billionaire John Paulson, helped pick the mortgage-backed securities that underpinned the investment, known as a collateralized-debt obligation. Neither Paulson nor his firm was accused of any wrongdoing in the SEC’s complaint. Paulson & Co. shorted the CDO, a bet its value would fall, meaning the New York-based firm stood to profit by choosing securities it expected to default, the SEC said in its civil complaint. Goldman Sachs told clients the securities included in the deal were selected by ACA Management LLC, an independent third party, according to the SEC. ‘If Paulson was intentionally putting dreck into the CDO, and doing so for the purpose of shorting it, then that could constitute fraud, said Ross Intelisano, a lawyer at Rich & Intelisano LLP in New York who has represented clients in […]