The attorney general claims that Greenberg was so angered over the failure of the auto-warranty program that he took it upon himself to fix the problem. Greenberg testified repeatedly that he only got personally involved in order to "teach a lesson" to those managers responsible for the failed program and remove blame from newer managers.
"You weren’t too busy to take personal interest in the auto-warranty losses, were you?" Nachman asked.
"I was upset by it," Greenberg replied.
"You weren’t too busy to get actively involved in addressing the situation?" Nachman responded.
"Well, it didn’t take very much time," Greenberg said.
Seeking Bar
The current attorney general, Eric Schneiderman, is seeking to bar Greenberg and Smith from serving as officers or directors of public companies and force them to give up more than $52 million in bonuses. Schneiderman dropped his demand for $6 billion in damages after Greenberg, two companies he heads and three other executives paid $115 million in 2009 to settle suits filed by AIG shareholders.
The trial, which is being heard by New York State Supreme Court Justice Charles Ramos without a jury, is slated to last through January. Proceedings are scheduled to resume on October 25, and Smith is expected to take the stand shortly afterward.
The case is State of New York v. Greenberg, 401720-2005, New York state Supreme Court (Manhattan).
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.