Some of AIG’s top European executives believe pressure to return big bonuses is nothing more than blackmail — and are reportedly adamant about keeping the money.
Despite public outrage and arm-twisting from American lawmakers, the execs in London and Paris have said they’re entitled to the dough.
“The vast majority of people in London have made the decision that the request is pretty offensive,” an employee who attended a meeting with AIG Financial Products unit head Gerald Pasciucco told Reuters. “It effectively constitutes blackmail, whether it is criminal or not. There is no moral reason to give it back.”
Another London AIG executive went so far as to ask government organized-crime investigators to probe whether demands to return the bonuses could be considered extortion, according to company e-mails. More than half of the $165 million in bonuses awarded was paid to AIG executives overseas. New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said 15 of 20 leading bonus recipients had agreed to return the money.