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AIG head gave shares to his wife, panel hears

Three days before he resigned as head of American International Group Inc (AIG), Maurice "Hank" Greenberg gave his wife 41.4 million of his shares in the insurance company, according to a regulatory filing.

The disclosure came on Tuesday, the same day Greenberg declined to answer questions posed by government investigators probing transactions at AIG.

AIG's board forced Greenberg, 79, to relinquish his posts as president and CEO on March 14, and he retired as the company's chairman two weeks later.

Greenberg transferred the shares to his wife, Corinne Greenberg, on March 11, according to his filing on Tuesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The shares are worth US$2.2 billion, based on AIG's current stock price.

Greenberg directly held 1.95 million shares after the transfer. In the filing, Greenberg also disclaimed ownership "and any pecuniary interest" in another 23.65 million AIG shares he held through C.V. Starr & Co Inc, which controls AIG managers' compensation.

Howard Opinsky, a spokesman for Greenberg's legal team, declined to comment on the filing, as did AIG spokesman Chris Winans.

At Tuesday's deposition, Greenberg invoked his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination in response to all questions during the 45 minute session, according to a person who attended the meeting but asked not to be identified by name.

"I'm told it was quiet, cordial and professional," Opinsky said after the meeting.

Greenberg, who arrived and exited the building via an underground tunnel, made no comments after the meeting. His lawyer had indicated on Monday that his client likely would refuse to answer questions because he had not had sufficient time to prepare.

Greenberg's substantial stock gift to his wife is sure to spark investigators' interest, because it appears to be an effort to shield assets, said Thomas Ajamie, a securities lawyer in Houston.

"All the alarms are going off, and red flags are waving, when he makes such a huge transfer at the exact same time that he's under civil lawsuit scrutiny and criminal scrutiny," Ajamie said. "This large of a transfer, even in isolation, would garner regulatory scrutiny, but in the context of the criminal and civil issues, the warning bells are waking up people from here to China."

Investigators who attended the Tuesday session with Greenberg in New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's office in lower Manhattan included members of Spitzer's staff, representatives from the Securities and Exchange Commission and lawyers from the New York state insurance department.
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