Welcome to the Freddie Mac Fair Fund Website
Welcome to the website for the claims administration of the Freddie Mac Fair Fund. This website has been established to provide general information related to the administration. The capitalized terms used on this website, and not defined herein, shall have the same meanings ascribed to them in the Distribution Plan.
Background
Between 1998 and 2002, Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation ("Freddie Mac"), a company chartered by Congress for the purpose of providing a stable market for residential mortgage financing in the United States, engaged in fraudulent conduct that deceived investors about its true financial performance, profitability, and growth trends, and in 2000, 2001 and 2002 the Company misreported its net income in each of those years by 30.5%, 23.9% and 42.9%, respectively. Freddie Mac's senior management exerted consistent pressure to have the Company report smooth and dependable earnings growth and to present investors with the image of a company that would continue to generate predictable and growing earnings. The Company's violations were the direct result of this corporate culture that placed great emphasis on steady earnings, and a senior management that fostered a corporate image that was touted as "Steady Freddie" to the marketplace. The Company presented itself to investors as a company that consistently achieved high quality earnings growth when, in fact, the Company’s earnings were volatile and deeply impacted by changes in certain accounting rules.
The Company’s misconduct took varied forms. First, the Company engaged in a series of transactions having principally an accounting purpose that were designed to minimize or eliminate the true impact of changes in Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“GAAP”) – specifically SFAS 133, which introduced additional earnings volatility – and that allowed the Company to falsely portray stable earnings growth and reduced income statement volatility. Second, the Company engaged in transactions that shifted income from the current periods into future periods, thereby enabling the Company to show a smooth growth pattern in earnings, and that assisted it in meeting future projections. The Company’s public statements failed to adequately inform investors of the impact of changes in the accounting regulations and thereby concealed the significance of these transactions from investors.
On September 27, 2007, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission” or “SEC”) filed a complaint claiming violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ("Exchange Act") and the Securities Act of 1933 ("Securities Act") by Defendant Freddie Mac, who directly or indirectly, by use of the means and instrumentalities of interstate commerce, the mails or the facilities of a national securities exchange, in connection with the purchase or sale of securities, had with knowledge or recklessly: (a) employed devices, schemes or artifices to defraud; (b) made untrue statements of material fact or omitted to state material facts necessary in order to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; or (c) engaged in acts, practices or courses of business which operate or would operate as a fraud or deceit upon any person. The Commission further claimed violations of the Securities Act by Defendants Glenn, Clarke, Dean and Dossani for negligently, in the offer or sale of securities, by the use of the means or instruments of transportation and communication in interstate commerce or by use of the mails, directly or indirectly (a) obtaining money by means of an untrue statement of a material fact or an omission to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements made, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; or (b) engaging in transactions, practices or courses of business which operated as a fraud or deceit upon the purchasers of such securities.
In the Final Judgments, the Defendants consented to permanent injunctions and paid disgorgement, pre-judgment interest and civil penalties, totaling approximately $50.75 million to the Clerk of the Court. On September 17, 2013, the Court entered an Order establishing a Fair Fund. The same order appointed Gilardi & Co., LLC (“Gilardi’) as Distribution Agent over the Freddie Mac Fair Fund.
On December 28, 2016, Chief Judge Royce C. Lamberth, United States District Judge for the District of Columbia issued an Order approving the Distribution Plan for the Freddie Mac Fair Fund.
The Distribution Plan provides that the disgorged profits, prejudgment interest and civil penalties paid shall be distributed for the benefit of injured investors who purchased Freddie Mac common stock and suffered a Recognized Loss pursuant to the Plan of Allocation. The Distribution Agent has been approved to oversee the administration of the claims, procedures, and distribution as provided in the approved Distribution Plan.
If you purchased Freddie Mac common stock at any time between April 18, 2000 and June 8, 2003, inclusive (“Eligible Trading Period”), and suffered a Recognized Loss per the Plan of Allocation, you may be entitled to receive a monetary payment from the Freddie Mac Fair Fund.
To be considered, you must complete a Proof of Claim Form and send, along with copies of all supporting documentation, to the Distribution Agent postmarked on or before July 10, 2017. A Proof of Claim Form can be obtained by visiting the Case Documents tab above and clicking “Proof of Claim Form.” If you have any questions about the Fair Fund or how to complete the Proof of Claim Form, you may call (877) 401-1797; or send an email to info@FreddieMacFairFund.com.