AIG Executives - Numero Uno in the Top 10 Most Wanted Culprits in the Economic Collapse

Number 1 named-AIG Exec's

In naming the top 10 most wanted culprits of the economic collapse, a clear theme emerges—or better yet, a clear motive. That motive is greed. After receiving an $85 billion life line from taxpayers, AIG came back for another 38 billion. The sheer gall of this company is staggering. As the ink was still drying on the first installment, A I G treated about 100 of its top agents to a luxury weekend at a posh resort in southern California racking up over $400,000 for rooms, banquets, and spa treatments. In one of the presidential debates Barack Obama said the treasury should demand the money back and the executives who OK'ed the trip should be fired.

A I G spokesman Nicholas Ashooh defends the expense as a way of rewarding those who have done a good job of going out and selling A I G products. He attempted to put a positive spin on the debacle by calling the expense a "good operating procedure" for them in the past while sheepishly admitting that now such measures have a "perception problem".

A.I.G. has become the symbol of the economic collapse because it took a gamble on what turned out to be billions of dollars worth of bad mortgages and did not secure sufficient collateral. AIG avoided regulation during its introduction of adjustable rate mortgages and Option A.R.M. loans. AIG touted itself as the pioneer of exotic financing. The current global economy is being drug down largely due to the catastrophic failure of these same loans. Now, the taxpayers are on the hook for this company's bad bet.

Who was responsible for selling America on this type of "creative financing"? Joe Cassano ran the financial products department at A I G.

He walked away earlier this year. However, in a colossal show of bad judgment, the company paid him about $1million a month to stay on and facilitate the close of the department.

The company was hammered on Capital Hill for that decision, but the exec's at A I G said they needed him for his "institutional memory" as they wound down operations. Is it any wonder that AIG's Joe Cassano made the number 1 spot in naming the 10 most wanted culprits of the economic collapse?

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