Government sues 17 Financial Firms to Recoup Losses from Risky Mortgage Loans

Developing: Federal Housing Finance Agency, that oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, sues 17 financial firms to recoup losses from risky mortgage loans.

Fox News: The U.S. government has sued the nation's largest banks, along with a handful of other financial institutions and executives, for violating federal and state laws in the sale of home mortgage-backed securities. The 17 institutions are Ally Financial Inc., formerly known GMAC LLC, Bank of America Corp., Barclays Bank PLC, Citigroup Inc., Countrywide Financial Corp., Credit Suisse Holdings Inc., Deutsche Bank AG, First Horizon National Corp., General Electric Co., Goldman Sachs & Co., HSBC North America Holdings Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Merrill Lynch & Co. and its unit First Franklin Financial Corp., Morgan Stanley, Nomura Holding America Inc., The Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC, and Societe Generale.

David Kellermann, 41, the Acting Chief Financial Officer of Freddie Mac, Apparently Committed Suicide

Here we go again, another suicide, but this time it's a high-level one. David Kellermann, 41, the acting chief financial officer of Freddie Mac, has apparently committed suicide, Fairfax County Police tell WTOP. According to media reports, Fairfax County Police spokeswoman Mary Anne Jennings said Kellermann was found at his Hunter Mill Estates home this morning. The police responded to the home after family members called police around five a.m. He reportedly hung himself.

"We were called from inside the house to come investigate an apparent suicide," Jennings says. Because of legal ramifications, Jennings says she can't describe the nature of the suicide. Police on the scene tell WTOP Kellermann's body was found downstairs, but would not say exactly where. "We're not to give you details of the condition of the body, except to say it was an apparent suicide," Jennings says. Source: WTOP News

Kellermann has worked at Freddie Mac for more than 16years. He was named acting chief financial officer of the agency in September 2008. He took over after Anthony "Buddy" Piszel resigned. In his position he was responsible for the company's financial controls, financial reporting and oversight of the company's budget and financial planning. Yeah, something smells fishy here. It is going to be very interesting to see what led him down this path of self-destruction.

You will recall that Freddie Mac has been widely and sharply criticized for its reckless business practices that some have argued played a big role in the housing and financial crisis. Freddic Mac is a government-controlled company that owns or guarantees about 13 million home loans. CEO David Moffett resigned last month. Freddie Mac and its big sister Fannie Mae, which together own or back more than half of the home mortgages in the country, have been weighed down by skyrocketing loan defaults and have received about $60 billion in combined federal aid.

Stay tuned, this is still developing.....