AIG Execs Under Criminal Investigation

April 28, 2009

The troubles at AIG continue to hold the headlines, as investigators are now digging into whether Joseph Cassano, the former head of London-based AIG Financial Products, and two of his top deputies--EVP Andrew Forster and Connecticut-based managing-director Thomas Athan--committed securities fraud and other federal crimes, reports the Wall Street Journal and CBS News.

Investigators are also looking at multiple ways these executives may have misled the company's auditors and investors about the value of derivatives the firm sold, people familiar with the case told WSJ. In particular, federal prosecutors are focusing on a December 2007 investor presentation in which Cassano said write-downs tied to the swaps had reached an estimated $1.6 billion, which is now under question. (more)