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Monopoly Man Watches As Lawmakers Grill Former Equifax CEO

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA/AP) — Former Equifax CEO passed Go, but did not go directly to jail after getting grilled on Capitol Hill. At least, not yet.

Richard Smith appeared by a committee of House Republicans and Democrats as an onlooker dressed as the iconic Monopoly man twirled his white mustache from the audience.

The Monopoly "man" was identified by several news outlets as Amanda Werner, a consumer protection advocate for Public Citizen and Americans for Financial Reform.

The massive data hack compromised the names, addresses, birth dates, and Social Security numbers of 145 million Americans.

"The criminal hack happened on my watch, and as CEO, I am ultimately responsible, and I take full responsibility," Smith said. "I am here today to say to each and every person affected by this breach, I am truly and deeply sorry for what happened."

The data breach was first detected in late July. On Aug. 1 and 2, Equifax Chief Financial Officer John Gamble and two other executives, Rodolfo Ploder and Joseph Loughran, sold a combined $1.8 million in stock.

Equifax notified the public of the hack on Sept. 7.


(© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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