Angelo Mozilo, former chairman and chief executive of Countrywide, the biggest US sub-prime mortgage lender, has agreed to pay $67.5m (£42m) in penalties and compensation to settle a lawsuit brought by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
Known as “the orange one” for his luminous tan, Mozilo will pay a $22.5m civil penalty, plus $45m in compensation to investors.
Two other defendants – Countrywide’s president, David Sambol, and former chief financial officer Eric Sieracki – also agreed settlements in a Los Angeles federal court. Sambol is to pay $5.5m and Sieracki $130,000. Mozilo also agreed to a permanent ban as a director of a public firm.
The settlement came just before Mozilo and his former colleagues were due in court to face charges of civil fraud and insider trading. Under the terms of agreement, the men did not admit wrongdoing.
The Securities and Exchange Commission accused the men of misleading shareholders about the quality of the loans on Countrywide’s books. The



