Goldman's Tourre cannot delay SEC case, judge says

Goldman Sachs Group Inc vice president Fabrice Tourre lost his bid to delay depositions in a U.S. regulator's lawsuit accusing him of misleading investors about a product linked to subprime mortgages.

U.S. District Judge Barbara Jones upheld a January 26 order by a different judge, which allows scheduled depositions to begin Tuesday in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's lawsuit against Tourre.

The defendant had argued it would be unfair to subject him to depositions because his lawyers have yet to review 300,000 documents, and he has yet to receive documents from Germany's IKB Deutsche Industriebank AG, an alleged victim of his supposed fraud. He also sought to delay depositions until his motion to dismiss the SEC lawsuit was addressed.

Pamela Chepiga, a lawyer for Tourre, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

The SEC last April 16 sued Goldman and Tourre over a 2007 collateralized debt obligation transaction known as Abacus.

It accused them of failing to tell investors that the hedge fund Paulson & Co helped choose and bet against securities underlying Abacus.

Goldman agreed in July to settle the case for $550 million, without admitting wrongdoing. Tourre has also denied wrongdoing. He is the only individual sued in the case.

The case is SEC v. Goldman Sachs & Co et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 10-03229.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel. Editing by Robert MacMillan)