From Foxnews.com
Federal authorities are investigating Countrywide Financial Corp. for securities fraud, according to media reports.
The Wall Street Journal first reported Saturday that the mortgage company is the subject of an inquiry, citing law enforcement officials and finance executives with knowledge of the development.
FBI spokesman Special Agent Richard Kolko on Sunday would not confirm if Countrywide is under investigation but said there is an open investigation.
“The FBI has been investigating potential fraud in the mortgage/sub-prime lending industry, however, we cannot confirm or deny which companies are under investigation,”Kolko said.
The New York Times, which also cited anonymous sources, said the Justice Department is also involved in the Countrywide investigation.
“We are not aware of any such investigation,” Countrywide spokeswoman Susan Martin told the Times.
Investigators are looking at evidence that may suggest that company executives knew their mortgage securities would see many more defaults than predicted in its public documents, one source told the Journal.
