Bonus Watch '14: Countrywide Whistleblowers

The total payouts to whistle-blowers in the federal government’s $16.65 billion settlement with Bank of America over its mortgage business may approach $170 million. Edward O’Donnell, a former executive at Countrywide Financial, and Robert Madsen, a former property appraiser for the bank already have been identified as two of the whistle-blowers that federal prosecutors gave credit to in the settlement agreement with Bank of America. The other two whistle-blowers entitled to a share of the settlement dollars being paid out by Bank of America are Shareef Abdou, an executive in the bank’s operations group, and the firm Mortgage Now, a New Jersey mortgage lender, according to court filings. The filings did not disclose the value of the settlement payouts, but the whistle-blowers, all of whom filed complaints under the Federal False Claims Act, are collecting payments equal to 16 percent to 17 percent of specific portions of the $16.65 billion, according to court filings and people briefed on the matter but not authorized to speak publicly. [Dealbook]