SEC Charges Execs with Fraud at Fannie & Freddie

Following up on our September post "Big Bucks, No Whammies?" about the SEC's apparent inaction on the wells notices they had served to the execs of Fannie & Freddie. We write to report that Whammies finally came with  Friday's headlines . The SEC brought fraud charges after all, not just against Daniel Mudd, former CEO of Fannie Mae but also five others now charged with deliberately misleading government officials about the extent of their subprime exposure.

The NYTimes explores the charges in greater detail and there are new reports that an FBI investigation into the same conduct is underway which means the guys could face criminal charges.    Following the SEC announcement speculation had already begun that Mudd would soon step down as CEO at Fortress Investment Group (FIG).

“Can you really run a trading and investment firm with a guy accused of fraud in the corner office?”   a Fortress employee was reported to have asked.  Apparently not when the accusations become official. (UPDATE:  Mudd took leave as CEO of Fortress on Wednesday December 21)

Mudd has been on the board at Fortress since 2007,and was appointed CEO of Fortress when he left Fannie amid scandal after the bailout in 2008 Fortress is a publicly traded hedge fund which recently introduced new subprime mortgage bonds onto the market....