Ex-Freddie CEO Paid $19.4MM

Former Freddie Mac chief executive Greg Parseghian -- who was forced to resign by regulators, but remains as a consultant -- was paid $19.4 million by the company last year, according to a just-released proxy statement.In early January, Mr. Parseghian signed a consulting contract with Freddie Mac that pays him $375,000 a month. The contract could last at least three months and has an 18-month "no compete" clause, barring him from hiring Freddie Mac employees. Industry veteran Richard Syron, who took over as chairman and chief executive of Freddie on the last day of 2003, was paid $8.9 million. (The figures for Messrs. Parseghian and Syron include salary, bonus, and stock awards.) Last June Mr. Parseghian was named CEO when the board ousted the company's three top officers in the wake of a $5 billion accounting scandal. However, Mr. Parseghian only kept the job for a few months, until the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight raised questions about the role he played in some of the accounting maneuvers. OFHEO found that Mr. Parseghian -- considered the brains behind Freddie's portfolio and trading desk -- was involved in making important decisions that have prompted accusations that (now former) Freddie officials engaged in accounting tricks to smooth out earnings. Former Freddie chairman and chief executive Leland Brendsel, one of the three forced out, would have made $23 million last year, but his compensation package is being contested by OFHEO.