Former ""Fannie Mae"":http://www.fanniemae.com/portal/index.html CEO Daniel Mudd resigned from his role as CEO of ""Fortress Investment Group"":http://www.fortressinv.com/ Wednesday amid ongoing controversy related to a ""Securities and Exchange Commission"":http://www.sec.gov/ (SEC) suit.
[IMAGE]The company announced his resignation in a statement, not long after Mudd had decided to take a leave of absence from his role.
[COLUMN_BREAK]""I want to thank Fortress for the opportunity to help lead the company over the last few years,"" Mudd said.
He said that he did ""not want the uncertainty associated with a leave of absence, on my part, to become a distraction for either Fortress or its investors,"" adding, ""thus, I have decided to resign,"" he added.
""We regret losing Dan,"" Fortress Principals Peter Briger, Wesley Edens, and Randal Nardone said collectively in the statement. ""We want to thank him for his leadership and for his many contributions to Fortress.""
The statement said that co-founder Randal Nardone will take over as interim CEO until the company selects a new chief officer.
The SEC filed suit against Mudd and other executives with both Fannie and ""Freddie Mac"":http://www.freddiemac.com/. Their charges: That Mudd and others knowingly misled the public and federal officials about risky mortgages and subprime loans.
Mudd led Fannie Mae from June 2005 until 2008, when the ""Federal Housing Finance Agency"":http://www.fhfa.gov/ moved the company into federal conservatorship.