Countrywide CEO Helped Many Get Loans

A Variety of People, Not Just Senators, Got Aid From Mozilo

June 27 2008 - More and more “Friends of Angelo” are surfacing.

As the mortgage market was wobbling a year ago, Angelo Mozilo, chief executive of Countrywide Financial Corp., intervened to help the daughter of a casino manager and her fiancé borrow to buy a home in Nevada. Countrywide gave them loans despite problems that ordinarily would have disqualified them, said a person familiar with the transaction.

Mr. Mozilo and his lieutenants also smoothed the way for mortgages for retired professional athletes, according to company insiders and property records, including former Indiana Pacers center Rik Smits and former San Francisco 49ers offensive lineman Harris Barton.

News of loans to prominent “Friends of Angelo” has appeared in The Wall Street Journal and other publications over the past three weeks. Borrowers have included two senators and two former CEOs of mortgage buyer Fannie Mae, one of whom, James A. Johnson, later stepped down as an adviser to the presidential campaign of Sen. Barack Obama. But it is becoming clear Mr. Mozilo and his aides shepherded loans for a wide variety of people. While there is nothing illegal about a mortgage firm treating some borrowers better than others, it isn’t necessarily in shareholders’ best interests.

REAL ESTATE: Countrywide CEO Helped Many Get Loans
by JAMES R. HAGERTY and GLENN R. SIMPSON | Wall Street Journal