Probe Into Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Widens

Washington Post (09/30/08) P. D1; Goldfarb, Zachary A.
The Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission have launched investigations into Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with regard to accounting, disclosure and corporate governance matters relating to events occurring up to Jan. 1, 2007. The mortgage finance firms say they received subpoenas asking for documents on Sept. 26. The SEC probe is "likely a pretty broad scope of review to see if they can find any evidence or allegations of misconduct by the executives," says Bryan Sillaman, who previously participated in an accounting probe of Fannie Mae as a lawyer in the SEC's enforcement division. Federal law enforcement currently is investigating a number of financial firms that are involved in the financial crises and have made housing-related investments.