Posted on 03/30/2009 8:02:48 PM PDT by Jim Robinson
Joseph Cassano Made More Than $300 Million at the Insurance Firm He Virtually Bankrupted
The FBI and federal prosecutors are reportedly closing in on the AIG executive whose suspect investments cost the insurance giant hundreds of billions of dollars. The government is investigating whether or not 54-year old Brooklyn-native Joseph Cassano committed criminal fraud in virtually bankrupting the company.
"He almost single-handedly is responsible for bringing AIG down and by reference the economy of this country," said Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Ca.)
Cassano, who lives in London, made more than $300 million running the infamous Financial Products Division of AIG where he, with about a dozen others, committed AIG to insure what turned out to be more than a trillion dollars worth of junk quality loans held by banks.
"He is the golden boy of the casino," said Rep. Speier. "They basically took peoples' hard earned money and threw it away, gambled it and lost everything. And he must be held accountable for the fraud, for the dereliction of his duty, and for the havoc that he's wrought on America."
When approached by ABC News outside of his London home Cassano said he did not want to talk about the allegations against him.
Cassano Received $1M a Month Even After He Was Fired From AIG After the huge losses became known, Cassano was fired from AIG in early 2008, but he still received a salary of $1 million a month until Congress intervened. AIG has received about a $180 billion in bailout funds so far.
"AIG was insuring junk and it was the AIG insurance that made the junk marketable," said tax law expert Jack Blum. "American taxpayers have been put on the hook for this insurance junk."
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
Greta just had a guy from the Wash Times on her show. He has an email from some high level exec in that division of AIG from 2006, asking employees for contributions for Chris Dodd’s campaign. Short time later, Dodd had $160,000 in contributions from AIG.
So now it is a crime to make piss poor financial decisions? Great. Let’s start with Congress.
What about Rahm, Gorelnick, Raines and other Dems who destroyed Fannie & Freddie and caused far more damaged than AIG?
Insurance fraud, wire fraud, mail fraud, RICO...
They’ll get the bastard.
This is a growing scandal that will implicate Chris Dodd, Hank Paulson (Goldman Sachs), Tim Geithner, et al, for starters.
Indeed...this will be interesting.
Additional information
http://www.forbes.com/2008/09/28/croesus-aig-credit-biz-cx_rl_0928croesus.html
“The answer [to how AIG got into trouble] is clearly spelled out in the footnotes to AIG’s (nyse: AIG - news - people ) 2007 consolidated financial statement. “In most cases AIGFP (American International Group Financial Products) does not hedge its exposures related to credit default swaps it has written.”
“By the close of 2007, AIG held $562 billion risky and dangerous unhedged credit default swap (CDS) contracts on its books. That amounted to more than half of all AIG’s assets. AIGFP, managed by Joseph Cassano, until he was pushed out in early 2008, was the dangerous operation singled out by The New York Times Sunday as the “small, freewheeling unit” that “brought AIG to its knees.”
Croesus was informed Saturday that these complex contracts were hedged until former Chairman Hank Greenberg was ousted from his post in April 2005. Sources close to Greenberg claim AIG held very little subprime paper, if any, before April 2005. But during the last part of 2005 AIG got deeply into subprime mortgages.”
Wasn’t it em prosectors who forved Greenberg out? Just curious
Sometimes you can be so smart you’re actually stupid - post crash reviews have shown that the fancy risk modeling software simply didn’t account for a price collapse that we witnessed. I saw it coming and depite my misgivings stayed in the market - well diversified and I’m still down close to 50%. Stupid doesn’t necessarily mean criminal.
I’ll see your coup and raise you a coup w/jail time.
IIRC, Hank Greenburg was forced out by the States Attorney Spitzer. Greenburg is a Pub businessman and Spitzer a typical Rat piece of crap.
Who will? This couldn't have worked out better for the Left. Obama just took over a company that was one of the bedrocks of this country, tossed out the president, gave a speech from the White House about power-train warranties and have the the whole country cheering over it.
I cannot believe what we are seeing. How can this country that destroyed Fascist Europe and brought the Soviet Union to it's crumbling demise be the same country that is now gleefully skipping into Communism?
Sounds like a drop in the bucket compared to what Franklin Raines and Jamie Gorelick pulled out of the “Mae’s”.
“I cannot believe what we are seeing. How can this country that destroyed Fascist Europe and brought the Soviet Union to it’s crumbling demise be the same country that is now gleefully skipping into Communism?”
It is the revenge of the irrelevent...the story of Washington against America.
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