Greg Smith’s “Why I am leaving Goldman Sachs” op-ed got lots of attention, but a federal judge in Manhattan has far more damaging things to say about the investment bank’s practices, notes Alison Frankel of Reuters in her “On the Case” blog.

Frankel brings attention to a 64-page ruling by U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero of Manhattan who details Goldman’s institutional efforts to secretly reverse its own long position in residential mortgage-backed securities as it allegedly duped clients into buying the instruments. 

Many are familiar with the scrutinized Abacus deal. Marrero’s preliminary ruling “greenlights most securities and common law fraud claims by investors in two other rigged-to-fail CDOs, Hudson 1 and Hudson 2,” Frankel writes. And although Marrero’s writing may not have the flair of others, it’s a devastating ruling, she said.

Read Frankel’s full column here.