Another financial crisis pirate walks away scot free ! [View all]

[Angel Martin]

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/26/business/countrywide-mortgage-devastation-lingers-as-ex-chief-moves-on.html?ref=business

Angelo Mozilo can finally get on with his life.

This month the Justice Department told Mr. Mozilo, the former chief executive of Countrywide Financial, once the nation’s largest subprime mortgage lender, that he was no longer under investigation in connection with civil mortgage fraud. The government’s criminal inquiry into Mr. Mozilo’s role in the financial crisis was dropped previously, so he is now in the clear.

At least that’s the view from Washington. On Main Street, where the pain of Countrywide’s reckless lending and abusive foreclosure practices still throbs, it’s safe to say that Mr. Mozilo is still identified as a major figure in the mortgage crisis.

Countrywide, a freewheeling mortgage machine co-founded by Mr. Mozilo and based in Southern California, was at the epicenter of the mortgage meltdown that in 2008 brought the nation’s economy to its knees. Perennially tanned and fond of flashy suits, Mr. Mozilo personified the home-lending good times that ultimately went bad. The decision by the government to close the book on Mr. Mozilo is something of a milestone and a moment to revisit the deeds of the company he co-founded.

So, Angelo avoids civil as well as criminal liability for mortgage fraud. (thanks DOJ)

Omitted from this story: any mention of the "friends of Angelo" in the Senate and Congress who got preferential mortgages in exchange for legislative favours.