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Saturday, July 11, 2009

Defense to argue full disclosure in Countrywide fraud case

Defense attorneys in the fraud case involving former Countrywide executive Angelo Mozilo will argue that the firm fully disclosed its operations, it has been suggested.

According to the Los Angeles Times, legal experts believe that the defense lawyers will say Countrywide's operations were made public through the form of statements, conference calls and investor forums.

As a result, the government's case for prosecution may not be successful, despite the fact that there is email and stock sale evidence against the subprime mortgage lender.

"I think it's going to be a tough case for the government," former head of the Securities and Exchange Commission's Los Angeles enforcement division Thomas Zaccaro told the news source.

He added that it will be a "challenge" to prove that the company should have predicted the "meltdown" that occurred in the subprime mortgage market in 2007.

Mr Mozilo and two other senior executives were charged with securities fraud at the start of last month.

He is also accused of making nearly $140 million in profits by carrying out insider trading.

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