Just days before the start of his sensational trial, junk mortgage king Angelo Mozilo agreed to pay $67.5 million to settle fraud charges and avoid any public humiliation in court.


Mozilo, the former CEO of Countrywide Financial, was the highest-ranking executive prosecuted following the financial collapse in 2008 due to toxic mortgage paper. Countrywide was one of the nation's largest originators of subprime loans.

Mozilo and two of his former executives agreed yesterday in federal court to pay millions in fines and give back some of their ill-gotten gains to settle a suit brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Under the settlement, none of them admitted guilt.



Their trial on charges of fraud and insider trading was set to open next week. Mozilo, who wasn't in the courtroom yesterday, agreed to give up $45 million in ill-gotten profits from illegal trades in Countrywide stock ahead of its collapse, and pay a record $22.5 million civil penalty.His ex-CFO at the firm, Eric P. Sieracki, got off with only a civil penalty of $130,000.

Former President David Sambol will give back $5 million in ill-gotten trading profits and pay a $520,000 civil penalty to settle his charges.

Both of the restitution payments -- $45 million from Mozilo and $5 million from Sambol -- will be paid on their behalf by Bank of America, which bought Countrywide after its 2008 collapse over junk assets.

Bank of America already has paid $600 million to settle a class-action suit filed by disgruntled Countrywide shareholders who claimed Mozilo and others misled them about the dangers of the firm's risky assets.

The SEC accused the trio of duping shareholders about the quality of the loans on Countrywide's books.





Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/mozilo_cops_plea_PIe3eFjSCxY31zYXGXAXlL#ixzz12edkGnPe