An expose of bad businesses and their unethical practices

The New York state agencies expanded their suit against Countrywide Financial Corp. to include an additional 26 financial service companies that were involved in underwriting the firm’s stock and bond offerings. At issue are a series of filings by the company that fraudulently represented the company’s business and finances.

The agencies involved are the New York City Comptroller, New York State Comptroller and New York City Pension Funds. "As borrowers lost their homes and investors held onto artificially inflated securities, Countrywide executives cashed out to the tune of almost $700 million," said state comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli. "We will pursue every avenue to ensure that those who defrauded investors are held accountable for their actions."

The class action suit alleges that Countrywide both misstated information and omitted information from financial statements used to raise money for company operations. These resulted in an artificial increase in the company’s stock price. This is yet more Bad Business in the country’s mortgage and foreclosure crisis.