Former head of
AIG Financial Products Joseph Cassano invoked his Fifth Amendment right to avoid incriminating himself more than 200 times—or once every 38 seconds—while being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), new documents reveal.
Obtained by the Wall Street Journal, the documents detail interviews conducted with some of the insurance giant’s top players in September 2009, a year after the US government bailed out AIG in an $85 billion deal.
Cassano expressed his “sincere desire to cooperate” with the investigation, but avoided even simple questions, such as a request to confirm the signature above his name on one letter. Other strange forays in the investigation related to discussions of Roman literature and the use of emoticons in employee emails.
Kevin McGinn, chief credit officer for AIG, was also interviewed by the SEC in February 2010. Though not the target of government investigations, McGinn was asked about an email he wrote in November 2007 explaining that some at AIG had decided “not to listen” to his concerns over increasing credit risks.
In the email to a colleague, McGinne wrote:
“Nero playing the fiddle while Rome burns is my assessment of that.”
McGinn was asked the identity of Nero in the analogy, but responded with laughter.
At the time, Cassano was head of AIG Financial Products, the division largely responsible for the insurer’s financial troubles. The investigations concluded in 2010 without any accusation of wrongdoing against AIG, Cassano or any other employees.
Since its bailout, AIG has streamlined operations and laid off several employees to regain control and profitability. Under the direction of former CEO Robert Benmosche, who announced his retirement in June, AIG repaid the entirety of the bailout founds and produced a profit of $22.7 billion.
AIG will be led by Peter Hancock starting Sept. 1.
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