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One of America’s top mortgage tycoons, Angelo Mozilo, has been charged with fraud and insider dealing for allegedly lying to investors about a toxic build-up of billions of dollars in reckless loans at his Countrywide Financial homeloans empire.
The Securities and Exchange Commission launched a civil prosecution against Mozilo for making $140m in profit by selling Countrywide stock in 2006 and 2007 while concealing a looming deterioration in the business’s prospects from shareholders.
At the peak of America’s property boom, Countrywide was the nation’s biggest mortgage provider, servicing one in seven US homeloans. But the firm suffered catastrophic losses in the credit crunch and was rescued from possible bankruptcy by Bank of America last year…
“Countrywide portrayed itself as underwriting mainly prime quality mortgages using high underwriting standards,” said Robert Khuzami. “But concealed from shareholders was the true Countrywide, an increasingly reckless lender assuming greater and greater risk…”
The charges are the most prominent government prosecution to date arising from America’s meltdown in sub-prime mortgages. Mozilo has been widely vilified as the “sub-prime king”, accused by unions and politicians of exploiting customers with predatory mortgages. Charles Schumer, a prominent Democratic senator for New York, recently suggested that Mozilo should be “boiled in oil – figuratively”.
I wouldn’t suggest anything as mean as boiling in oil. Now, the guillotine – that’s a different story.
It will take months to find the criminals of the regulatory free-for-all of the Bush years.
I bet he hopes to end up at Gitmo rather than a stateside rat hole prison. Ha!
Where’s the mention of Chris Dodd and others who received kickbacks…now supervising the billions in bailout money.
Wow, is it ironic that he looks like the Grinch that stole Christmas?
I just hope Bubba makes him air tight in prison.
The Chinese model is to execute these kind of guys (if they get caught, of course).
#3, Alphie,
What kickbacks? If you have a specific allegation to make, maybe you should contact the US Attorney.
Oh wait! We are still waiting for you to back up that allegation you made that Obama was a drug dealer.
Let’s hope he is only the first. Many banks perpetrated fraud on the American people thinking they could get away with it. We need to prove to them they cant
#5 – Please don’t waste a bullet, a guillotine can be reused over and over – how green – even better once the blade gets dull.
#6 Google turns up lots of hits, to list a couple:
http://gopleader.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=94839
http://sayanythingblog.com/entry/surprise_democrats_block_investigation_into_countrywide_mortgage_scandal/
They should also round up all those democrats who pushed “affordable housing” including those who had oversight, like Barney Frank…ACORN…everyone involved in politically threatening the banks to make these foolish loans…
Really drain out the swamp.
Hang Him! No first we will have a fair trail then we hang him.Next up Dick Cheney.
$140 million, this guy’s small potatoes. Now Bernie Madoff, he’s the man, $65 billion in personal gain. He get’s sentencing at the end of this month. I still think they should execute him as a traitor, like Ethel and Julius Rosenberg. He’ll probrably get 15 years. This dork’ll do less than 10 at one of those country club minimum security prisons for the privileged.
#12 Being in Spain you should probably be more concerned with Zapatero, who has been steadily ruining your econ since he took office…
#6 ps…a Google search Obama sold drugs also generates lots of hits.
#12 Ur right, the Democratic Sugar Daddy Bernie Maddoff was in with the in crowd…we need to round up all those Democrats too…but then we would require special elections to fill all the vacant seats in our Legislature, both houses.
#11 Pelosi should be next, Cheney now has greater approval ratings than she does.
Like how corporate cheats should suffer all sorts of punishments, but Al Qaeda, well no waterboarding allowed.
#13 Actually my economy is just fine, so far. While spanish politics is crap, like politics everywhere, the spanish society seems to absorb the crisis through social cohesion. Zapatero, is pretty harmless compared to some of the prezys I’ve seen since ’85. I think it’s indoctrinated foolishness to think that the economic crisis was caused by liberal or conservative agendas. This crisis was caused by people who are responsible for billions of dollars. Politicians are just clowns made for TV to keep the kiddies drooling.
To be a thug requires physical violence. I think there are better adjectives to describe usury.
How about calling him an immoral capitalist?
Why hasn’t there been any investigation into the Kings of Sub Prime – Ameriquest? These guys built an empire on shady deals and eager borrowers. Sure the empire is gone, but not after all the executives ran away with hundreds of millions. Some of the cash has been used to fund political careers like LA’s Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. That dude is as dirty as they come.