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WASHINGTON (AP) - Mortgage finance giant Fannie Mae avoided criminal prosecution over its alleged multibillion-dollar accounting fraud, the latest twist in a saga of intrigue involving a politically potent company.
The decision, first announced Thursday by the government-sponsored company, marks one more break in the succession of high-profile financial prosecutions in recent years.
Federal prosecutors in Washington confirmed they had shut down their investigation of Fannie Mae's faulty accounting after two years. But the Securities and Exchange Commission still could bring civil actions against individual executives, including people no longer at Fannie Mae, with the burden of proof less stringent than in criminal prosecutions.
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