The only way he serves time is if an unscrupulous prosecutor looking to make a name for himself tries to extrot something out of him. But, I guess with Spitzer gone that might not be a problem. Besides, Spitzer just took payoffs and never put anyone in jail anyway.
The feds are starting the arrests. When will they get the tan man? US mortgage fraud probe nets 406, plus Bear Stearns two 9 hours ago WASHINGTON (AFP) â Two ex-Bear Stearns executives were indicted Thursday as officials unveiled charges against 406 people in a huge probe into fraud, which helped fuel the housing crisis and infect the global economy. The announcement was the biggest indication yet of criminal charges in response to what some say was rampant fraud aimed at cashing in on a sizzling market before last year's meltdown. In an indictment unsealed in New York, former Bear Stearns hedge fund managers Ralph Cioffi and Mathew Tannin were charged with conspiracy, securities fraud and wire fraud. Cioffi was also charged with insider trading. The pair told investors that their two funds were designed "to provide a modest, safe and steady source of returns," the indictment said. But they failed to inform investors that the funds were "in grave condition" and at risk of collapse in March 2007. The funds collapsed in the summer of 2007 resulting in some 1.4 billion dollars in losses to investors and triggering widespread panic in financial markets about the global financial system. According to the indictment, the two had "marketed the two funds as a low-risk strategy, backed by a pool of debt securities such as mortgages" and "made misrepresentations to stave off investor withdrawal" even as the funds neared collapse. But Edward Little, a lawyer for Cioffi, said the two men were being blamed in a crisis that was not their fault. "The subprime crisis took everyone by surprise, including the Fed and Treasury, and dozens of the largest financial institutions have lost over 300 billion dollars to date on the same investments," the lawyer said in a statement. "We are shocked and disappointed that the government has seen fit to fix blame on these two decent men. The good news though is that there will be a trial, and we look forward to the day they will be vindicated." Tannin's attorney Susan Brune said: "Matt Tannin is innocent. He is being made a scapegoat for a widespread market crisis. He looks forward to his acquittal." Meanwhile the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said they had charged 406 people from March 1 to June 18 in a national probe called "Operation Malicious Mortgage" in a variety of schemes related to housing fraud. Some 60 arrests were made in mortgage fraud-related cases on Wednesday, in 144 separate cases. The FBI estimates that the cases resulted in one billion dollars in losses. "Operation Malicious Mortgage and the Bear Stearns case demonstrate that the Department of Justice is determined to detect and to punish mortgage fraud and to help restore stability and confidence in our housing and credit markets," said Deputy Attorney General Mark Filip. "The cases announced today represent the ongoing enforcement work of federal investors and prosecutors from across the country who are working with more than 40 task forces, that they, along with our state and local counterparts, have formed to combat this sort of fraud and related abuses." The collapse of the hedge funds at Bear Stearns played a role in a global credit crunch as banks and investment funds scrambled to identify investments tied to risky mortgage bets. Bear Stearns, a prestigious 85-year-old Wall Street investment firm, went into a downward spiral after that news and was on the brink of collapse itself when a rescue engineered by the Federal Reserve in March 2008 resulted in its sale to JPMorgan Chase. The Operation Malicious Mortgage task force is probing a variety of tactics including lending fraud, foreclosure rescue scams and mortgage-related bankruptcy schemes. Some cases involve fraudulent misrepresentations about the borrower's financial status, the use of false or fictitious employment records or the inflation of property values, according to officials. Foreclosure schemes involve criminals who target legitimate homeowners in dire circumstances and collect fees for supposed foreclosure prevention services
Just when I thought you couldn't be more naive (I'm being diplomatic)... Do you actually believe what you write? Do you actually believe Mozillo had no idea, or in fact, a very good idea, of what was about to happen, as he was exercising his stock options while CFC share prices just happened to be at all time highs (some amazing coincidence), and just before CFC became de facto bankrupted, taking the share prices with it in its free fall? Are you a white collar criminal defense attorney or something?
Liz McDonald on Fox is trying to be Rupert's Charlie Gasparino. She is reporting that a "Corporate Insider is the big Fish they are after." I was thinking Angie, but someone of some repute brought up Jimmy Cayne. How about both? anybody got a chart of those Prison stocks???
Hah. http://finance.yahoo.com/news/SEC-c...16.html?sec=topStories&pos=main&asset=&ccode= SEC charging ex-Countrywide CEO Mozilo with fraud SEC charging former Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo, 2 other execs with civil fraud Marcy Gordon and Greg Risling, AP Business Writers On Thursday June 4, 2009, 4:53 pm EDT Buzz up! Print Related:Bank of America Corporation WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal regulators on Thursday charged Angelo Mozilo, the former chief executive of mortgage lender Countrywide Financial Corp., and two other company executives with civil fraud. Related Quotes Symbol Price Change BAC 11.87 +0.66 {"s" : "bac","k" : "c10,l10,p20,t10","o" : "","j" : ""} The Securities and Exchange Commission's civil lawsuit, filed in federal district court in Los Angeles, also accuses Mozilo of illegal insider trading. Countrywide was a major player in the subprime mortgage market, the collapse of which in 2007 touched off the financial crisis that has gripped the U.S. and global economies. Mozilo, 70, is the most high-profile individual to face formal charges from the federal government in the aftermath of the crisis. Mozilo has denied any wrongdoing. His attorney did not immediately return an e-mail message for comment Thursday afternoon. Civil fraud charges also were filed against Countrywide's former chief operating officer David Sambol, 49, and ex-chief financial officer Eric Sieracki, 52. The trio "deliberately misled" Countrywide shareholders, SEC enforcement director Robert Khuzami said at a news conference at agency headquarters. While they painted a picture of robust performance, the real Countrywide was "buckling under the weight" of soured mortgage loans, he added. Mozilo "was actively taking his own chips off the table" by selling his shares to reap nearly $140 million in illicit profits, Khuzami said. The SEC is seeking injunctions and unspecified civil fines against Mozilo, Sambol and Sieracki and wants them to be barred from serving as officers or directors of any public company. The agency also is seeking unspecified restitution of allegedly ill-gotten profits from Mozilo and Sambol. Attorneys for Sambol and Sieracki said their clients will fight the charges. "Making groundless allegations and losing in court will not help the SEC restore its reputation," said Sambol's attorney Walter Brown. Sieracki's attorney Shirli Fabbri Weiss said her client bought Countrywide stock during the time when the SEC claims he was withholding information from investors. "Mr. Sieracki lost money just like all other investors in Countrywide stock when the credit markets seized up and real estate values declined," she said. The SEC and federal prosecutors have undertaken wide-ranging investigations of companies across the financial services industry, touching on mortgage lenders, the Wall Street investment banks that bundled home mortgages into securities sold to investors, and other market players. "We are very closely looking at a number of cases," Khuzami said. The SEC's scrutiny of Mozilo's stock sales began in the fall of 2007 with an informal inquiry. The filing of the agency's lawsuit is a striking turn for Mozilo, the man who 40 years ago co-founded what grew into the nation's largest mortgage lender. He moved the company in 1969 from New York to the housing hotbed of suburban Los Angeles, guiding Countrywide through numerous boom-and-bust housing cycles. After the mortgage crisis hit, Calabasas, Calif.-based Countrywide was forced to cut thousands of jobs and saw its shares plummet. Its downward spiral ended in it being bought by titan Bank of America Corp. in July 2008 for about $2.5 billion. Countrywide itself is the target of multiple lawsuits related to the mortgage meltdown. Khuzami declined to say whether the SEC had made a referral in the case to the Justice Department for possible criminal prosecution. But a person familiar with the matter said a criminal probe into Countrywide's lending practices continues in Los Angeles. The person requested anonymity because of the ongoing probe and said no charges were imminent. It was the first major case led by Khuzami, who joined the agency in March. SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro brought him in at a time when the agency was being assailed by lawmakers over its failure to detect the massive pyramid scheme run by fallen money manager Bernard Madoff despite red flags raised to its staff by outsiders over the course of a decade. Mozilo's influence stretched from the California real estate market through the corridors of power in Washington. The Democrats were roiled a year ago by revelations that Sens. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, and Kent Conrad, D-N.D., head of the Budget Committee, got mortgages at favorable rates through a VIP program dispensed by Countrywide for so-called "friends of Angelo." Dodd insisted that the controversy over the two loans he received did not compromise his ability to lead Congress' efforts to address the effects of the subprime mortgage meltdown. Mozilo sold about $130 million in Countrywide stock in the first half of 2007 through a prearranged 10b5-1 trading plan. These plans, popular among corporate executives, allow a company insider to set up a program in advance for such transactions and proceed with them even if he or she comes into possession of significant nonpublic information. North Carolina's state treasurer, who asked the SEC in 2007 to investigate Mozilo's stock sales, raised questions about changes made to Mozilo's plan in the months before the company's stock plunged, which allowed Mozilo to significantly increase his sales of Countrywide shares. Mozilo had sold company shares through prior arrangements since 2004; the pace of his sales began to quicken in October 2006 when he put a new plan into effect. Mozilo has said that he did so to reduce his stake in Countrywide and diversify his personal investments in an orderly fashion before his retirement, which was slated for December. Risling reported from Los Angeles.