There is something unseemly about the face-off in U.S. District Court between Maurice "Hank" Greenberg and AIG over billions in stock supposedly set aside as incentive compensation for employees. This is the final battle in an ugly divorce–one the indomitable Mr. G might not win.

It's amazing to see Mr. Greenberg on the witness stand, after he apparently dodged the bullet in investigations by Eliot Spitzer and the SEC, as well as a prosecution of AIG and General Reinsurance figures in Connecticut over the use of bogus finite reinsurance deals to cook AIG's books and artificially prop up its balance sheet.

People went to jail for that white-collar crime–including Gen Re's former CEO, Ron Ferguson. Prosecutors cited Mr. Greenberg as an unindicted co-conspirator, while the presiding judge said the government's evidence was sufficient for a jury to conclude the conspiracy began with a phone call from Hank.