NU Online News Service, Aug. 14, 2:40 p.m. EDT
Three Ohio pension funds have reached a $115 million settlement agreement with Maurice Greenberg, former CEO of American International Group (AIG), and three other company executives regarding charges of "anti-competitive practices," Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray announced.
However, AIG itself remains a defendant in the case, and Mr. Cordray made it clear he intends to vigorously pursue the civil action, filed in the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York.
The agreement in principle must be approved by the boards of the pension funds at their August board meetings, Mr. Cordray noted.
The pension funds–the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System, State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio, and Ohio Police and Fire Pension Fund–alleged that between Oct. 28, 1999 and April 1, 2005, AIG and its executives engaged in "anti-competitive practices, such as market division through the use of undisclosed contingent commissions and bid-rigging."
There were also allegations of a massive accounting fraud that led to a $3.9 billion restatement of AIG's publicly available financial and regulatory filings, according to Mr. Cordray's statement.
Mr. Cordray said he is now preparing the case for trial against AIG itself, which he identified as the primary defendant.
"My office has negotiated agreements totaling $284.5 million from secondary defendants in this case," Mr. Cordray said. "Yet AIG itself has so far refused to do right by investors who were wronged."
He characterized this as "completely unacceptable in light of AIG's request to receive hundreds of millions of dollars in bonus compensation, underwritten by taxpayers, due to a federal bailout caused by AIG's poor business decisions and the financial crises. Such misconduct simply underscores why my office will continue to hold Wall Street accountable for its wrongs."
A representative for AIG released a statement, which noted that "AIG has already paid $800 million to investors, including those that are part of the alleged class in this lawsuit–an amount which is almost three-times what all the other defendants have agreed to pay combined."
The company went on to say that "any additional payments from AIG would not only come at the expense of taxpayers, but would greatly benefit the plaintiffs' lawyers who are litigating these claims and who would undoubtedly seek millions in fees from any judgment or settlement."
Mr. Greenberg's representative declined to comment. The others to settle include:
o Howard I. Smith, AIG's former CFO, who recently settled charges filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) involving accounting fraud.
o Christian M. Milton, AIG's former vice president of reinsurance, who in January was sentenced to four years in prison on charges of conspiracy, securities fraud, mail fraud and making false statements to the SEC.
o Michael J. Castelli, AIG's former controller.
o Other related corporate entities–C.V. Starr & Company Inc., and Starr International Company Inc.–which are now headed up by Mr. Greenberg.
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