“Maurice R. Greenberg, the ousted chief executive of American International Group Inc., was practically laughed out of New York for claiming that he and other shareholders were shortchanged by the U.S. government’s $182-billion bailout of AIG.
“No one’s laughing now.
“In an obscure courthouse here, normally the domain of aggrieved government contractors and Native American tribes, the billionaire financier is leading a crusade against the government’s handling of the financial crisis that seems as unlikely as it does brazen.
“Over government objections and dismissal motions, the trial is steamrolling forward, wringing testimony from such A-list officials as former Treasury secretaries Henry M. Paulson and Timothy F. Geithner and former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke.
“A verdict granting Greenberg’s claim for $40 billion more in taxpayer money is a serious possibility.
“This trial isn’t about getting the truth of the crisis and the bailout. It’s about a billionaire who wants more money,” fumed Dennis Kelleher, chief executive of Better Markets Inc., a Washington nonprofit that pushes for more stringent financial regulation.”
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Read the full Los Angeles Times article by Dean Starkman here
