Countrywide execs to get millions

CALABASAS, Calif., March 29 (UPI) -- Countrywide Financial Corp.'s top executives will get hefty payments in the company's merger with Bank of America, filings with U.S. regulators indicate.

Chief Executive Angelo Mozilo and President David Sambol, who built Countrywide into the largest mortgage lender in the United States before it collapsed with the housing bubble, are to receive stock next week worth $19 million, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Mozilo, who plans to retire, will trade restricted Countrywide stock for unrestricted shares in Bank of America, worth more than $11 million. Mozilo will also receive millions of dollars in deferred compensation and pension benefits as well as continued health insurance coverage.

Bank of America said in a filing late Thursday it has agreed to pay Sambol $28 million to stay with the company.

"This company was driven to the brink of bankruptcy and the individuals responsible are getting millions," said Daniel Pedrotty, director of the office of investment at the AFL-CIO. "Just when you think the situation couldn't get any worse, this company demonstrates again that they have no regard for how shareholder assets are spent."