Ex-Fannie Mae Chief Is Dismissed From Investors’ Suit

Franklin D. Raines, who resigned as chief executive of Fannie Mae in late 2004 amid revelations of extensive accounting improprieties at the mortgage finance company, has been dismissed from a long-running civil suit brought by Fannie Mae investors hoping to recover damages.

The federal judge overseeing the class action, Richard J. Leon of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, ruled on Thursday that the investors’ lawyers had not proved that Mr. Raines knowingly misled shareholders about the company’s accounting and internal controls, a necessary hurdle for the case against him to continue.

“There is not only no direct evidence that Raines intended to deceive Fannie Mae’s investors,” Mr. Leon ruled, “there is no evidence that he even knew his statements were false.” At best, the judge continued, evidence submitted by the shareholders showed that Mr. Raines “acted negligently in his role as the company’s chief executive and negligently in his representations about the company’s accounting and earnings management practices.”

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