Mar 24, 2009 6:14 am US/Eastern
15 Of Top 20 AIG Execs To Give Back Bonuses
Attorney General Cuomo Announces That Insurance Giant's Employees Have Agreed To Return $50 Million
AG Cuomo To Bigwigs: "You Have Done The Right Thing"
Poll: Obama Gets Low Marks For His Handling Of Situation
By JEFF CAPELLINI, WCBSTV.com Sr. News Producer
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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Logo of troubled insurer American International Group Inc. Sept. 17, 2008, on a window at their office in the lower Manhattan area of New York.
Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced Monday evening that nine of the top 10 executives at AIG will return their bonuses.
The insurance giant came under scrutiny last week after it was revealed that company executives were scheduled to receive more than $165 million in bonuses following a taxpayer bailout.
In all 15 of the top 20 bonus recipients have agreed to give back the money, which equals approximately $30 million.
Cuomo released a statement on Monday night, which said:
"My office's investigation of AIG is continuing and we are proceeding with our security assessment for the employees. Through that process, my Office has been working with AIG and its employees in an attempt to assess the status of the $165 million in bonuses that were paid on March 15, 2009.
"We have been working our way down the list beginning with the recipients who received the largest bonuses. So far, 9 of the top 10 bonus recipients have agreed to give the bonuses back. Of the top 20, 15 have agreed to return the bonuses.
"Of the $165 million pool, we calculate that employees have agreed to return approximately $50 million. It bears noting that 47 percent of the $165 million pool went to Americans (approximately $80 million).
I would like to say this to the individuals who have given the money back -- you have done the right thing. You have done what this country now needs and demands. We are living in a new era of corporate and individual responsibility. I thank you for setting an example for the rest of the company.
I thank those employees. Our investigation and security assessment continues."
Cuomo said AIG paid bonuses of $1 million or more to 73 employees, including 11 who are no longer employed by the company. Cuomo subpoenaed AIG to release that information while he looked into possible charges of fraud.
President Barack Obama wanted to stop AIG from handing out any more executive bonuses while receiving billions in federal aid. The government will place tough new limits on the next $30 billion installment of bailout money headed to the struggling insurance company. And the President had ordered Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to see if the money already paid out could be retrieved.
But that didn't stop the howls of protest.
"There is a rat hole, and we have thrown $170 billion down it. At the same time the Treasury Secretary Geithner could have and should have insured that taxpayer dollars wouldn't be used to pay these bonuses, but he didn't," said Sen. Christopher Bond (R-Missouri).
Through its insistence that it is contractually obligated to pay those bonuses, despite receiving billions in taxpayer aid, AIG has become the poster boy for corporate greed, eliciting a level of anger not seen since the financial crisis began. In a radio interview, GOP Sen. Charles Grassley suggested AIG executives follow the Japanese example.
"Come before the American people and take that deep bow and say I'm sorry and then either do one of two things: resign or go commit suicide," he said.
The senator eventually revised that, saying instead the executives should "repent." Most Americans would prefer instead they "refund" and give back the bonuses.
"Let the recipients of these large and unseemly bonuses be warned: if you don't do it on your own, we will do it for you," said Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.).
According to a CBS News poll, an overwhelming majority of Americans – 83 percent -- think the insurance giant could have found a way not to pay their employees bonuses.
That same poll found that President Obama does not receive good marks for his handling the AIG bonuses: 41 percent approve; 42 percent disapprove.
A third of Americans thinks Congress has spent too little time on the issue of AIG bonuses, 26 percent think they have spent too much time on it, while about the same percentage thinks they have spent the right amount of time.
By comparison, 53 percent think Congress is spending too little time trying to solve the nation's broader economic problems.
Please stay with CBS 2 HD and wcbstv.com for more on this developing story.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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