SEC, Ex-American Home CEO settle
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WASHINGTON - The former head of American Home Mortgage Investment Corp. has agreed to pay nearly $2.5 million to settle federal civil charges of accounting fraud and concealing the company's deteriorating finances as the subprime mortgage crisis hit in 2007.
The Securities and Exchange Commission disclosed the settlement yesterday with former American Home chairman and chief executive Michael Strauss, the company's founder.
Charges against the former chief financial officer, Stephen Hozie, also accused of accounting fraud and misleading investors, are pending. The SEC also alleged that Strauss, Hozie, and former controller Robert Bernstein misled American Home's auditor about the adequacy of the company's reserves against losses on mortgages.
Carl Loewenson Jr., an attorney representing Hozie, declined to comment yesterday, as did Bernstein's attorney, Frank Wohl. Strauss's lawyer, Peter Bresnan, didn't return calls.
American Home filed for bankruptcy protection in August 2007.
