Mozilo Loses Bid to Have SEC Case Dismissed

A federal judge rejected a request by Angelo Mozilo, the former CEO and founder of Countrywide Financial Corp., to dismiss a Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit accusing him of securities fraud and insider trading. Mr. Mozilo's lawyer David Siegel called the court's order "disappointing" but added he was confident Mr. Mozilo eventually "will be vindicated." In a court filing, U.S. District Judge John Walter in Los Angeles also rejected requests by David Sambol and Eric Sieracki, respectively Countrywide's former chief operating officer and former chief financial officer, to dismiss related SEC charges. In June the three were slapped with a massive civil fraud suit, accusing them of deliberately misleading investors in the company's stock and engaging in insider trading. They could not be reached for comment. Two years ago CFC's shares were trading in the $40 range. By the time Bank of America bought the firm in the summer of 2008, its stock was trading as low as $3. Investors lost billions on CFC.