Ameriquest Mortgage founder Roland Arnall, a billionaire who became a symbol of the subprime lending industry he helped create, died Monday at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles. He was 68. The cause was cancer.
The Paris-born Arnall once sold flowers on the street corners of Los Angeles but over the years built a real estate and financial services fortune that transformed him into one of the nation's wealthiest individuals.
A major Republican financier with ties to President Bush, he was appointed ambassador to the Netherlands in 2006 after an approval process that was slowed by issues regarding Ameriquest.
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