Countrywide Financial Corp co-founder Angelo Mozilo and two other former executives at the once-largest U.S. mortgage lender were sued by U.S. stock regulators on Thursday, a Securities and Exchange Commission official said.

The civil lawsuit also names former Countrywide President David Sambol and former Chief Financial Officer Eric Sieracki, the official said.

The SEC was expected to disclose details of the case at a news conference on Thursday.

The case is expected to include insider trading claims against Mozilo and accusations that Sambol and Sieracki failed to disclose risks to investors in securities filings, a second person familiar with the case said.

The case against Mozilo, long one of the most prominent officials in the U.S. mortgage lending industry, constitutes the highest-profile civil case stemming from the U.S. housing collapse.

Mozilo co-founded Countrywide in 1969 and publicly expressed strong confidence in its prospects and survival even as problems began to mount. Bank of America Corp bought the company for $2.5 billion last July 1.

(Reporting by Gina Keating; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)