Criminal investigation opened against Goldman Sachs

Goldman Sachs is now under criminal investigation by the Justice Department, following a flurry of Capitol Hill activity this week focusing on Wall Street. 

Federal investigators will look into mortgage securities deals by Goldman Sachs that became the focus of hearings with the firm's executives this week, according to The Associated Press. 

The probe has been under way for weeks and is being conducted by Justice and the FBI, according to a Washington Post story. 

On Thursday, 62 lawmakers delivered a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder calling for the investigation with further pressure building after Lloyd Blankfein, Goldman's CEO, and other executives defended the company's financial deals and said they didn't do anything wrong. 

The U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan is expected to take the case referred by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the AP reported. 

Two weeks ago, the SEC filed a civil lawsuit against Goldman alleging fraud in connection with a trader's transactions in 2006 and 2007. Goldman released a slew of emails from trader Fabrice Tourre reflecting that Goldman knew some of the investments, mostly in the subprime mortgage market, would fail and money could be made betting against the transactions.