Abacus 2007-AC1, the mortgage deal at the centre of Friday's civil fraud lawsuit against Goldman Sachs, also boasts another dubious distinction: It was one of the worst performing mortgage deals of the housing crisis, based on one measure of rating-firm downgrades.

Less than a year after the deal was completed, 100% of the bonds selected for Abacus had been downgraded, according to a February 2008 report by Wachovia Capital Markets, since acquired by Wells Fargo & Co.

That was a fate that only two other such deals, known as collateralized debt obligations, or CDOs, suffered around that time.

Wall Street Journal