Mozilo of Countrywide Financial makes CNN Anderson Cooper list
Number 7 named—Angelo Mozilo, founder of Countrywide Financial
Angelo Mozilo, number 7 on the 10 most wanted culprits of the economic collapse, is the founder and former CEO of the monster corporation Countrywide Financial. Countrywide offered home equity loans, commercial mortgages, and sub-prime mortgages. Its capital segment bought and sold mortgages and offered asset management and brokerage services. It provided life, property/casualty, and reinsurance products through Balboa Insurance Group. Although the company was diversified, Countrywide specialized in sub-prime loans. The company's founder was dubbed the king of the sub-prime market. Mozilo is responsible for putting many low-income families into homes who never thought they would be able to afford them. As it turns out, most of them could not. Countrywide is the nation's largest originator of sub-prime mortgages—totaling $120 billion in just three years.
Lisa Madagan, Illinois attorney general, is outraged. Her state has been hit hard by the sub-prime mortgage crisis. Before the summer of 2008, Illinois foreclosure filings had almost reached 10,000. She contends that Mozilo knowingly put people in homes using loans that they did not understand and could not afford, with no way out. California, where Countrywide is based, has also been hit hard with one in every 69 households facing foreclosure. Illinois and California have jointly filed suit against Countrywide for granting risky sub-prime mortgages to homebuyers without regard for their ability to pay.
In March, under questioning on Capital Hill, Mozilo blamed declining home values and job losses for the nation's flood of foreclosures. He maintains that he was joining with the Clinton administration, then the Bush administration in noble efforts to make housing available to lower income families. He further maintains that the sub-prime loan was a major tool that allowed him to accomplish that goal. But California congresswoman, Maxine Waters doesn't buy that for a minute. She points out that Mozilo made millions in the process of selling these loans.
He retired after Bank of America bought Countrywide. Bank of America immediately halted the sale of sub-prime loans. Upon his departure, Mozilo received a $48 million retirement package. When asked to account for his "golden parachute" Mozilo called it deferred compensation for the decades he spent building the company from the ground up. But the company he built is responsible for billions of dollars in defaulted home mortgages—placing him firmly on the list of the 10 most wanted culprits of the economic collapse. CNN top ten Culprits - Culprit #1 CNN top ten Culprits - Culprit #2 CNN top ten Culprits - Culprit #3 CNN top ten Culprits - Culprit #4 CNN top ten Culprits - Culprit #5 CNN top ten Culprits - Culprit #6 CNN top ten Culprits - Culprit #7 CNN top ten Culprits - Culprit #8 CNN top ten Culprits - Culprit #9 CNN top ten Culprits - Culprit #10
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