SEC charges ex Fannie and Freddie Execs
In a move that can only be labelled as mining the tip of the iceberg;the Securities and Exchange Commission has brought civil fraud charges against six former top executives at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, saying they misled the government and taxpayers about risky subprime mortgages their institutions held during the housing bubble bust.
Headlining the charges are two former CEOs, Fannie's Daniel Mudd and Freddie's Richard Syron .Absent from the list are Fannie infamous leaders of the recent past James Johnson ,Franklin Raines ,and Jamie Gorelick. Johnson in particular did as much to create the crisis as anyone in the country not named Barney Frank,Chris Dodd ,and Andrew Cuomo.
The troika not only led their institution and the market to the abyss . But they also looted Fannie to the tune of $150 million in the process.
Civil charges of course do not threaten criminal consequences. But I guess it's possible that the Justice Dept will go after their cronies and slap them with criminal charges. Maybe with some more discovery ,depositions ,investigations ,plea bargaining etc. investigators will build a case against them . Maybe they'll get that one faster than the do tying Newt Gingrich's lobbying... oops I mean consulting.. to some kind of unethical behavior ;or smear against him.