Countrywide’s Mozilo May Face SEC Charges

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) may soon bring civil fraud charges against Angelo Mozilo, co-founder of Countrywide Financial, which folded into the Bank of America (BAC) name as part of the recent mortgage operations rebranding initiatives there. The SEC weeks ago sent a memo to Mozilo warning him of the likely charges, unnamed sources told the Wall Street Journal. The charges may include allegations of insider trading and failure to provide shareholders with material information, the WSJ‘s sources said. The charges point toward the $130m in Countrywide stock Mozilo sold in the first half of ’07, compared with the $60m sold in the year-earlier period, according to securities filings, although Mozilo’s lawyer told WSJ any inferences drawn about his adverse knowledge of the company for insider trading are unfounded. BofA purchased the giant mortgage lender and servicer last July. Write to Diana Golobay at [email protected]. Disclosure: The author held no relevant investment positions when this story was published. Indirect holdings may exist via mutual fund investments.