Countrywide executives agree to settle fraud charges with SEC

[TampaYankee]

Countrywide co-founder, 2 others settle with SEC Lawyers:

Former Countrywide CEO Mozilo and 2 others agree to settle fraud charges with SEC

Jacob Adelman, Associated Press Writer, On Friday October 15, 2010, 2:38 pm

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Countrywide Financial Corp. co-founder Angelo Mozilo and two other former executives have agreed to pay tens of millions of dollars to settle civil fraud and insider trading charges with federal regulators, lawyers said in federal court Friday.

Mozilo and the others were to face trial on the charges next week.

FILE - This March 7, 2008 file photo shows Angelo Mozilo, founder and former CEO of Countrywide Financial Corporation, testifying before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. A judge ruled Friday Oct. 8, 2010 that federal regulators in an upcoming trial can use a message written by Mozilo, in which he called himself a "magnet" for prosecution. (AP Photos/Susan Walsh, File)

Mozilo agreed to repay $45 million in ill-gotten profits and $22.5 million in civil penalties. Former Countrywide President David Sambol will repay $5 million in ill-gotten profits and $520,000 in civil penalties, and former Chief Financial Officer Eric P. Sieracki will pay $130,000 in civil penalties.

Under the agreement, the three men did not admit wrongdoing.

The Securities and Exchange Commission accused the men of misleading shareholders about the quality of the loans on the Countrywide's books. The civil complaint also accused Mozilo of acting on his inside knowledge of the company's precarious state when he sold shares between November 2006 and October 2007 ahead of its collapse, reaping more than $139 million.

Mozilo was not in court when the settlement was announced.

The former Countrywide chairman is the nation's highest-profile defendant yet to face trial for risky business practices leading to the housing collapse that sent the country into recession.

In legal filings, regulators portrayed the three defendants as engaging in a single-minded pursuit of market dominance, even if it meant knowingly taking disastrous risks.

The company was a major player in the market for high-risk subprime mortgages and became the biggest U.S. mortgage lender overall before it spiraled into disaster when the mortgage meltdown hit. Bank of America Corp. bought Countrywide in July 2008.

The settlement talks involving Mozilo were disclosed after U.S. District Judge John F. Walter filed a notice Thursday for trial lawyers to attend a status conference Friday.

Countrywide's lending practices are reportedly also the subject of a criminal probe in Los Angeles. U.S. attorney's office spokesman Thom Mrozek declined to comment about the situation.

Countrywide was based in Calabasas, Calif.

See original article at:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Countrywide-cofounder-2-apf-1381976931.html?x=0

[TampaYankee]

It sickens me that the Rich get one justice and everyone else gets another -- even in a Democrat Administration. That is one of the things wrong with this country -- money talks. Where is the hard time for all the raping and pillaging that these guys created???

[Guest EXPAT]

I agree. That fine was nothing compared to his destruction. He should not only have to pay all of his fortune, he should be in jail.

[Guest zipperzone]

I agree. That fine was nothing compared to his destruction. He should not only have to pay all of his fortune, he should be in jail.

I also agree 100%. He took 139 million and was fined 67.5 million. That leaves him with 71.5 million.

Whoever said that Crime Doesn't Pay? I should be so lucky.

[BiBottomBoy]

Lindsay Lohan is going to end up doing more jail time for liking booze and coke than these guys will do for ruining lives and wiping out the life savings of hard working people.