Fannie, Freddie Faulted For Spending on Conference

(Reuters) - A federal watchdog faulted Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage finance companies propped up with taxpayer funds, for "questionable" spending on a mortgage industry conference last year, in a report released on Thursday.

Almost half of the $600,000 that the two companies spent for a conference held by the Mortgage Bankers Association in October "was of questionable value," the inspector general for the companies' federal regulator said.

The inspector general cited $140,000 spent to help sponsor the conference, saying it "did not find sufficient justification" for the sponsorship. It also cited the $140,415 spent to host dinners and business meals, saying the companies could have accomplished the same amount of business at a "substantially lower cost."

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