Having studied America’s mortgage meltdown and the parties who struck the match, it’s hard to resist cheering the reckoning for Countrywide Financial Corp. Call it subprime schadenfreude.

Already, the nation’s largest home lender was under federal investigation for fraud, as executives allegedly understated the risks of investing in mortgage-backed securities. It was reported that former CEO Angelo Mozilo — who cashed out as his company tanked — had cut special home loans for members of Congress, including the sponsor of the Senate’s housing bailout bill.

Late last month, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan filed a civil lawsuit against Countrywide and Mozilo, alleging unfair and deceptive conduct. Then came the final blow, with Bank of America snagging the company for a song.

Of course, Countrywide’s comeuppance is nothing to celebrate, since its senior managers dragged down so much with them — their employees, 7,500 of whom may lose their jobs; homebuyers, stuck with mortgages they can’t afford; the U.S. economy, which is suffering the effects of high foreclosure rates.

Still, it’s refreshing to see prosecutors pursuing alleged corporate abuses with vigor. Madigan’s lawsuit, filed June 25, charges that Countrywide knowingly marketed “risky and costly” loan products. Her office says the company broke Illinois law by relaxing underwriting guidelines, inflating applicants’ income and encouraging employees to hoodwink buyers into signing expensive adjustable-rate loans.

While some out there are eager to place the blame for the nation’s economic woes on ill-informed borrowers, in fact it’s a two-way street.