Report: SEC May Sue CFC Co-founder Mozilo

Staff at the Securities and Exchange Commission have recommended filing civil fraud charges against Angelo Mozilo, the co-founder of Countrywide Financial Corp., The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday afternoon. The newspaper quoted sources "familiar with the investigation." Mr. Mozilo, who lives in Granada Hills, Calif., not too far from the old Countywide headquarters, could not be reached for comment. His telephone number is not listed. It was widely known that the agency was investigating his insider stock sales over a three-year period. He retired from the company on July 1 when it was sold to Bank of America for about $4 billion. Its shares once traded as high as $45 but by the time BoA bought the company it was only selling for a few dollars a share. Mr. Mozilo co-founded the lender in the 1960s with then-partner David Loeb. His stock sales, which were publicly disclosed, totaled more than $300 million. CFC was once the nation's largest overall residential lender/servicer and the largest funder and servicer in the subprime sector.