Federal Prosecutors Dismiss Case Against Ex-Countrywide CEO Mozilo

The U.S. Justice Department has agreed to drop a two-year criminal investigation into former Countrywide head Angelo Mozilo on charges of insider trading. Red flags were raised as Mozilo sold $140 million in Countrywide stock between 2006 and 2007, even as he recognized the company was faltering. The Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC), which had accused him of misleading investors about Countrywide's health and risk-taking, and generating an estimated $140 million in improper gains from insider stock sales. Mozilo started Countrywide in 1969 with David Loeb, and the duo grew the company into one of the nation's top mortgage lenders with approximately $11.4 billion in revenue at its peak in 2006. Mozilo became one of the highest-paid executives in America. From 2000 until 2008, it has been reported that he received total compensation in excess of $521.5 million. Regulators accused Mozilo of selling more than $140 million in Countrywide stock between 2006 and 2007 even as he recognized that his company was faltering, and hiding the risks of a faltering sub-prime market in public statements to shareholders. Earlier this month, California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris announced a $6.5 million settlement of a predatory lending case against Mozilo and David Sambol, former officers of Countrywide.