Fraud, Insider Trading Charges For Mozilo

Angelo Mozilo, the former chief executive of Countrywide Financial is being charged with fraud. In addition to fraud charges, the SEC is also accusing Mr. Mozilo of insider trading.

Mozilo topped the list of Time Magazine’s “25 People to Blame for the Financial Crisis.” In his testimonies before Congress, Mozilo has often appeared unrepentant and flippant. The clip below is from one of his more tamed appearances.

BTW – At the two-minute mark, Mr. Mozilo is asked to explain why no one was alarmed by the stat that in 2006, 18 percent of homeowners whose mortgages were in securitized pools missed their first mortgage payment.

Mozilo said that his company investigated each loan to find out what caused the failed mortgages. I thought that was pretty ironic since last year, Mr. Mozilo inadvertently hit “Reply to all” instead of “forward” on an e-mail from a distressed homeowner. His response:

“This is unbelievable. Most of these letters now have the same wording. Obviously they are being counseled by some other person or by the internet. Disgusting.”

The insider trading charges may not stick, but something tells me the fraud charges are definitely worth pursuing.