Posted on 03/30/2009 8:22:15 PM PDT by Jim Robinson
WASHINGTON, Mar 30, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) -- U.S. investigators are looking into possible criminal fraud by a former American International Group Inc. executive, ABC News reported Monday.
Federal prosecutors and FBI agents are investigating Joseph Cassano, 54, who ran AIG's Financial Products Division, the U.S. network reported. The department lost hundreds of billions of dollars and Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., told ABC Cassano "almost single-handedly is responsible for bringing AIG down and by reference the economy of this country."
ABC said its own investigation determined Cassano set up dozens of companies -- some off-shore -- to keep transactions off AIG books and hidden from U.S. and British regulators.
Cassano was paid more than $300 million to run the AIG Financial Products Division, through which AIG insured junk quality loans valued at more than $1 trillion, ABC said. He was fired in 2008 after the losses were reported, but he continued to draw $1 million a month until Congress took up a bailout of AIG, using $180 billion in public funds.
"They basically took peoples' hard earned money and threw it away, gambled it and lost everything," Speier said.
Tax law specialist Jack Blum told ABC the deals worked by Cassano's division were "absolutely toxic and most of the people who were dealing in it knew how toxic it was."
ABC News approached Cassano outside of his home in London but he would not discuss the allegations.
(Excerpt) Read more at marketwatch.com ...
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Since when do elected officials have the right to go on television and comment on the guilt or innocence of an individual? The guy hasn’t been indicted yet. And even if he was, he’s innocent until proven guilty.
I don’t trust Democrats. Unfortunately, they’re in power.
>They basically took peoples hard earned money and threw it away, gambled it and lost everything, Speier said. <
Sounds like Congress.
Bwahahaha! Dems have found the witch in the woods. One of their donors.
If the detestable Jack Murtha can claim Marines in Iraq had killed innocent civilians in cold blood, then anyone can do it. The ignorant masses love scapegoats, and guilty politicians are more than willing to provide them.
Well, that does it. Lynch party!!!!
Cassano gave excusively to Democrats.....most of the money went to Obama:
http://www.campaignmoney.com/political/contributions/joseph-cassano.asp?cycle=08
He also gave to Baucus and Chris Dodd.
Not sure about Soros, but Chris Dodd's wife was heading an off-shore company connected to AIG. I imagine if the FBI gets a bit too close to that nugget, Eric Holder will simply shut down the investigation. This is a show investigation that will make private citizens the villains, while the Democrats who enabled and participated will come out the good guys at the end.
It's all a sham.
Man....I’m suspicious as hell now.
First, it’s a Dem reporting this guy? Go with me here, they’re looking for a scapegoat. I think the admin, and the Dems in general, are orchestrating a big ole nasty campaign against AIG to cover the congressional involvement in all this.
WHERE THE HELL ARE THE REPUBLICANS!!!??? Why aren’t they holding news conferences, writing op-eds for the WSJ, on every Fox news show....complaining about Dodd, revealing what you know they gotta know.
We have no opposition party and for this the country suffers.
The pubbie tans, however, and head hairs, remain perfect for the respect they must show for their friends across the aisle.
Excellent article Jim...I missed the thread, so thank you for the link.
Probably. May be a sham or a distraction.
Raines, Gorelnick and Rahm to name a few at Fannie & Freddie.
The whole strategy here is just stay on AIG. It was all AIG. AIG is responsible for all the evil in the universe etc etc.
We are seeing endless, daily propaganda.
He is as guilty as all hell of fraud, as AIG could never cover the risk if it was ever called.....but so are many, many other banks etc that sold these derivatives.
As are the rateing agencies, as are the lawyers for writeing the contracts, the auditors for signing off the books, the regulators for allowing it, the politicians for both recieving donations attained fraudulently and allowing it all to happen.
But what is even madder is that as Fraud was involved, they could cxl all these deals and not only save taxpayers from -paying for it all, but once all the toxic derivatives are removed, the banks would be healthy again.
All they have to do is prosecute for fraud, tear up the deals, jail and seize all the perps assets and a huge amount of the problems are over....so why won’t they do it.
Ken Lay meet Joe Cassano...AIG has just become Enron. Hide your wallet.
Cassano had something like $500 billion of AIG money at risk in credit default swaps by early 2008, an increase of something like $450 billion since Hank Greenberg left the company in 2004. That’s an ABSURD risk, totally unjustifiable and ridiculous. And AIG did not hedge its CDSs!
Nobody knew about all this except the bosses at AIG. $500 billion at risk! Where were the risk management people at AIG? How do you get arrogant enough to take that kind of risk and still sleep soundly at night?
Cassano truly is the archetype of the kind of insane traders who bear the greatest blame for the current economic crisis, which effects every last American citizen, and billions more people around the world.
Hang ‘em all.
This is the same scam used by Enron's CFO Andy Fastow ----forming thousands of companies to hold (and hide) company debt---- which caused the collapse.
Fastow is in jail---and his wife also served time for signing falsified tax returns.
Cassano should pass “GO” and go directly to “JAIL.”
For what it’s worth, from the Talking Points article, the man pictured is not Cassano.
Inter alia, the Times article reports the division is now run by Gerry Pasciucco, a former vice chairman of Morgan Stanley. On the left, you can see a recent photograph of Mr. Pasciucco from a party in Belle Haven, sporting a Che Guevara t-shirt, blue blazer and handkerchief, with some sort of sporting drink I’m unable to identify (possibly a mojito?).
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