HARTFORD, CONN.–After 23 days, a federal jury began deliberations yesterday on the fate of five insurance executives accused of putting together a sham reinsurance deal that bolstered the financial picture of American International Group.
The panel of nine men and three women that heard the case in U.S. District Court here retired to consider the evidence after hearing a four and a half hour charge on how to apply the law in the case.
Attorneys said they thought the jury might take up to a week to come in with a verdict.
On trial are Ronald Ferguson, (former chief executive of General Reinsurance, a Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary), Christopher Garand (a former Gen Re senior vice president), Robert Graham, (Gen Re's former senior vice president and counsel), Elizabeth Monrad (Gen Re's former chief financial officer) and Christian Milton (former AIG vice president for reinsurance).
The group is accused of conspiring to create a sham finite reinsurance transaction that helped artificially improve the financial picture of American International Group in the fourth quarter of 2000 and first quarter of 2001.
They face a multi-count indictment with conspiracy to violate federal securities laws and commit mail fraud, as well as with securities fraud and making false statements to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
If convicted, Mr. Garand faces a maximum of 160 years in prison and up to $29.5 million in fines. The remaining four could receive a maximum of 230 years in prison and $46 million in fines.
In addition to those on trial the government listed a number of other executives as unindicted coconspirators in the case, including Maurice Greenberg, former AIG chairman and CEO, who left the company in 2005 when the case came under investigation.
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