Top banking regulator ousted

WASHINGTON, Dec. 22 (UPI) -- A U.S. official has been removed from his job after investigators found he allegedly allowed IndyMac Bancorp to portray a misleading picture of its finances.

The Office of Thrift Supervision removed Darrel Dochow as director of its western region, The Washington Post reported Monday.

Dochow was responsible for regulating several of the largest banks that failed or were sold in the past year, including Washington Mutual, Countrywide Financial, IndyMac and Downey Savings and Loan, the newspaper reported.

The Treasury Department's inspector general, Eric Thorson, said Dochow allowed IndyMac to count money it got in May in a report describing its financial condition at the end of March.

Dochow was appointed regional director in September 2007. He was paid $230,000 in 2007, records show.

He landed the senior position shortly after his leading role in persuading Countrywide Financial Corp. to move under OTS supervision. The agency is funded by fees from the companies it oversees.