Regulators File Charges Against Former Fannie Mae CEO, CFO

The government has filed more than 100 charges against Franklin Raines, the former chief executive at Fannie Mae, former Fannie Mae chief financial officer Timothy Howard and the company's former controller, Leanne Spencer, seeking fines and the return of millions in bonus money. The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, overseer of the giant mortgage financing concern, is demanding the return of the trio's bonus money they claim was tied to the multi-billion-dollar accounting scandal that resulted in the ouster of Raines and Howard and a restatement that resulted in a $6.3 billion reduction in earnings dating back to 2001. In November, OFHEO director James B. Lockhart III, said his agency planned to file a lawsuit before the end of the year in an attempt to recover millions of dollars from Raines and Howard. Following a two-year dispute over deferred compensation following his dismissal, Raines had been awarded $2.6 million under a deal disclosed in an SEC filing.