U.S. judge says SEC may pursue Rio Tinto fraud case

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Monday rejected Rio Tinto Plc's bid to dismiss a Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit accusing the Anglo-American mining company of civil fraud in its handling of a failed investment in a Mozambique coal project.

U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres in Manhattan said the SEC may pursue some of its claims in the October 2017 lawsuit, which also charged former Chief Executive Officer Tom Albanese and former Chief Financial Officer Guy Elliott with fraud.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; editing by Jonathan Oatis)