Inside the SEC Case Against Mozilo

In its civil complaint, the SEC accuses Mozilo and two of his top lieutenants, former Countrywide Chief Operating Officer David Sambol and former Chief Financial Officer Eric Sieracki, of misleading investors about the risk underlying the billions in mortgages the company sold. The complaint alleges that Mozilo made $139 million in profit by exercising Countrywide stock options from November 2006 to August 2007, knowing all the time his ship was sinking. Countrywide, which was based in Calabasas, Calif., was swallowed by Bank of America (BAC) last year.