A company run by former American International Group Chief Executive Maurice “Hank” Greenberg Monday filed a $25 billion lawsuit against the United States, claiming that the government takeover of the insurer was unconstitutional. In its complaint, Greenberg’s Starr International said that in bailing out AIG [AIG 21.01 --- UNCH ] and taking a nearly 80 percent stake, the government failed to compensate existing shareholders. It said this violated the Fifth Amendment, which bars the taking of private property for public use without just compensation.
“The government’s actions were ostensibly designed to protect the United States economy and rescue the country’s financial system,” Starr said. “Although this might be a laudable goal, as a matter of basic law, the ends could not and did not justify the unlawful means employed.”
The United States, it went on, “is not empowered to trample shareholder and property rights even in the midst of a financial emergency.”
Monday’s lawsuit was filed with the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in Washington, D.C., which handles lawsuits seeking money from the government. Once the world’s largest insurer by market value, AIG accepted $182.3 billion of federal bailouts beginning on Sept. 16, 2008, amid a liquidity crisis spurred by its exposure to risky debt through credit default swaps.
Unbelievable. The guillotine is way too good for this crook.
The complaint about the fifth amendment and due process is very important. The issue here is people being deprived of their property in an unconstitutional manner. Overlook it at your peril.
The government subverted the usual bankruptcy process so that certain players (read: Goldman Sachs) had a positive outcome they wouldn’t have had if the government had not interfered.
The reason the economy is in such trouble now is that the big banks took huge risks and made bad decisions, and they are having the government interfere to make sure they don’t pay for their mistakes. Instead, they are moving the costs of their mistakes to “the little people”.
If “little people” do the same thing, they go to prison.
One large correction, both the dim wits and the reptiles voted for that law and only a partisan simpleton is going to miss that obvious point.
you are an idiot. Take another hit off the bong and sit back and wait for your mama to fix dinner.
The Supream Court has all ready ruled that government can take privet property for public use, even if that public use is to sell it to another privet person who will develop the propery more ecconomically. Bankers were all for this a few years ago, but now that the shoe is on the other foot thay are crying foul. Were was this ass-hat’s concern when AIG was missusing his invnetment?
“Were was this ass-hat’s concern when AIG was missusing his invnetment?” – in private contract it is personal responsibility to pick and choose with whom and under which conditions you enter in a legally binding situation. This man chose certain risk with AIG for whatever reason acceptable to him. However he didn’t chose to give his money to the Government and Government didn’t ask and made offer for his assets there. Even in Supreme Court decision you state, when Government takes private property for eminent domain seizure – they MUST offer fair value for it first. MUST. Here they just stole for non existent “collective good” (nowhere to be found in Constitution).
The VERY FIRST WORDS of the constitution are “We the people” – collectively, in other words.
Also, in order to take damages, I believe plaintiff will have to show that he was somehow harmed by this action. After the trillion or so $$$$$$$s we “invested” in AIG – good luck. An activist court may make a way to find for this psychopath, but I doubt it.
Considering they had money invested and got nothing back your challenge isn’t going to be at all hard to do.
Nothing in any law anywhere guarantees profit.We DO NOT owe a living to anyone. Without public assistance investors were wiped out.
Tough luck.
Show me where the governments actions were responsible for their loss.
AIG was and is a junk stock. Whatever they recieved was good enough because there would be no 25 billion for them to sue if the gov’t did not intervene. Moreover, they accepted the bailout, so they already recieved the agreed upon return on their investment. Why would any court allow someone to renegiotiate forever to get more and more money? I don’t think anything like imminent domain was used; it was an agreed upon transaction and now this guy thinks he has some legal leverage because other people after him and the gov’t fixed his incompetence and now he things he’s valuable. Other people made it valuable again, he made it worthless and recieved everything he legal deserves, but it was still probably too much.
Next time you try to sound smart you should turn spell check on…. lol
Why is this person still alive? Someone please tell me.
Is it just me, or does this guy look an awful lot like Voldemort?
ggore says:
11/23/2011 at 3:38 am
Uh, Sept, 2008 was BEFORE Obama was elected. I guess Bush in an orange jumpsuit as well would work for you?
Yup! His action set the stage for Obama.
Many joke that Obama is son of Bush. They do seem to have a lot in common in some ways.
This is vastly unfair.
Bush went loony over his war on terror. He blew billions we don’t have and pretty much ended up with bleep on a stick to show for money and lives wasted.
Obama is blowing trillions we don’t have and so far all we have to show for it is bleep on a stick to show for money and lives wasted.
Sure we have suppressed the Taliban but that is going be back just as soon as we with draw from Afghanistan and the Arab spring marks the rise in power of the Muslim Brotherhood. A group of people that would like to terminate most of our posters.
another damn jew trying to rape for more money, to bad there isn’t enough to fill that black hole…
Unfortunately, you are right. I’m perplexed that at less than 2% of the population, the Jews are in charge of our money, ie, the Fed; Bernard Shalom Bernanke, his predecessor Greenspan, , then Paul Volcker, then Arthur Burns are all Jewish. Do we have the descendants of the moneychangers the Lord threw out of the temple 2,000 years ago, governing and manipulating ours? then GOD HELP US!
Do we really need this sort of noxious trash here Dvorak?
Without picking a side, doesn’t Greenberg and everyone else think the whole AIG takeover/bailout was unConstitutional? Seems like winning this for his new team, Starr International, could come back and bite him on the ass for the AIG deal.
So as a tax payer, I should be allowed to kick this fucktard in the nuts.
Oh shit wait, we’re the church – we don’t pay taxes.
Never mind…
We’ll give you a pass, this time.
Please GOD! I want a French Revolution
Pay the share holders their fair share. Pay them the value of the stock had AIG not been saved by the bailout.
I agree! If the Govt hadn’t of stepped in, it would be worth nothing! Give him fark all!
I am pretty sure AIG’s officers already got more than enough of the US taxpayers money.
FUCK HIM
Well, you folks have got to admit the dude has a lot of chutzpah.