Goldman earned $3.5 billion in first quarter

Goldman Sachs, the bank recently charged by the SEC for defrauding investors, earned $3.5 billion in the first quarter of 2010. That figure is up from $1.66 billion from the same period last year. 

The bank was charged with withholding from investors material information on mortgage-backed securities the SEC claims the bank knew were designed to fail. That charge has already capture congressional attention and will likely continue to do so as lawmakers try to pass financial reform legislation. 

On Monday, Reps. Elijah Cummings (D-Ma.) and Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) praised SEC Chairwoman Mary Schapiro for taking action against the bank and urged her to continue to investigate similar transactions by the firm. 

"The compliant is based on a single [investment] knows as ABACUS 2007-ACI," the lawmakers wrote to Schapiro. "However the ABACUS 2007-ACI offering was part of a series of 25 such [investments], all arranged by Goldman Sachs. It is not beyond the realm of comprehension that the 24 remaining ABACUS transactions included similar materially misleading statement to investors in order to protect Goldman's internal proprietary bets."

The lawmakers noted that 7 of these investments were guaranteed by American International Group (AIG), which transferred $12.9 billion in bailout funds to Goldman after the market collapsed. 

"[It] is imperative that the SEC pursue the recovery from Goldman Sachs of any fraudulently obtained AIG payments," they wrote, adding, "should this or any subsequent investigation uncover criminal misconduct, we implore you to refer those matter to the Department of Justice for the appropriate prosecution."