Countrywide Financial Corp. co-founder Angelo Mozilo has agreed to a $67.5 million settlement to avoid trial on civil fraud and insider trading charges that alleged he profited from doling out risky mortgages while misleading investors about the risks.
I thought this would be a slam dunk prosecution, but that was before the mortgage foreclosure mess revealed the sorry state of so much documentation needed for corroboration of wrongdoing. Hmmm. Maybe more former mortgage brokers and i-bankers are going to breathe easier at the precedent this sets.
I guess the SEC really does have better things to do with its time than pursue full-bore prosecutions.
