McCAIN & AIG's role in Spitzer's Downfall

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Mon Oct-06-08 04:53 PM
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McCAIN & AIG's role in Spitzer's Downfall

http://www.politics1.com/blog-0408a.htm#0421

McCAIN FINANCE CHAIR PLAYED MAJOR ROLE IN SPITZER'S DOWNFALL

John McCain's National Finance Co-Chairman played a key role in the recent downfall of former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer (D).

Reliable sources informed Politics1 that DC super-lobbyist Wayne Berman -- a longtime confidant of insurance executive Maurice Hank Greenberg -- authorized a private Investigation that discovered the links between Spitzer and a Florida escort service ring. Operating under the alias code-name "Wallace C. Bernheim," Berman directed an 18-month effort that cost en estimated $2.2 million. The investigation was allegedly paid for by a highly-secretive shadow committee Berman directed, informally nicknamed "The Group." Sources tell Politics1 that The Group included Greenberg, Home Depot founder Ken Langone and former New York Stock Exchange Chairman Ken Grasso -- all high-profile targets of Spitzer when he was Attorney General. Key players in funding the anti-Spitzer effort also included wealthy New Jersey businessman Joseph Jingoli and Florida sugar mogul Pepe Fanjul Jr. Berman also retained veteran Republican dirty trickster Roger Stone to transmit the information to the FBI five months ago. The Group also funded an on-going effort by Stone to challenge Spitzer on the "Troopergate" and illegal immigrants drivers license issues. Berman and Stone were previously partners in the Black, Manafort, Stone & Kelly consulting firm, whose former clients included Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, Angolan guerilla Jonas Savimbi , US Sugar, Phillip Morris Tobacco, and developer Donald Trump. Stone also had a very public sexual scandal in that past, as he was fired by Bob Dole's 1996 Presidential campaign when it was reported that Stone and his wife were advertising for other couples in sex magazines and participated in swingers sex parties. Stone also organized the so-called "Brooks Brothers Riot" in November 2000 that shut down the Miami-Dade Presidential recount. The funders decided against giving the money to the coffers of New York Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno (R) -- a sharp Spitzer foe -- because of lack of confidence in Bruno strategist John McArdle.
http://www.politics1.com/blog-0408a.htm#0421

Key AIG stockholder and former AIG CEO Maurice "Hank" Greenberg is currently chairman and CEO of C.V. Starr and Company, a diversified financial services firm that is named for the founder of AIG, Cornelius Vander Starr. Hank Greenberg's sons (see below) Jeffrey Wayne Greenberg and Evan G. Greenberg are also key AIG stockholders.

Maurice "Hank" Greenberg shifted the AIG's focus from personal insurance to high-margin corporate coverage. Greenberg focused on selling insurance through independent brokers rather than agents to avoid selling insurance at low prices. In the mid-2000s AIG became embroiled in a series of fraud investigations conducted by the Securities and Exchange Commission, U.S. Justice Department, and New York State Attorney General's Office. Greenberg was ousted amid an accounting scandal in February 2005. The New York Attorney General's investigation led to a $1.6 billion fine for AIG and criminal charges for some of its executives

Greenberg was both a social friend and client of Henry Kissinger, utilising his consultancy, Kissinger Associates, for advice and operations in a number of countries, particularly in Asia. In 1987 he appointed Kissinger as chairman of AIG's International Advisory Board.

Son Jeffrey Wayne Greenberg began his career at Marsh & McLennan after graduation. Greenberg resigned as CEO of Marsh & McLennan after the firm was charged with rigging, and as part of a lucrative kick-back scheme, "stifling competition" according to New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. He is currently chairman of the privaty equity firm he founded, Aquiline (Validus) Holdings registered in Bermuda.
http://www.secinfo.com/d14sr8.u1aWk.htm
Jeffrey Wayne Greenberg is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, serves as a trustee of the Brookings Institution, and has served as a member of Brown University's corporation.

Brother Evan G. Greenberg is President and CEO of ACE Limited a property & casualty insurer incorporated in Zurich, Switzerland. Prior to a July 2008 re-domestication, the company had been incorporated in the Cayman Islands.

ACE Ltd sells property casualty insurance and reinsurance in the US and about 50 other countries. ACE Global Reinsurance, primarily through its Tempest Re unit, provides catastrophe reinsurance to personal and commercial clients. Through ACE Global Markets, the firm owns four Lloyd's of London managing agencies. ACE USA provides US commercial and casualty insurance. Through ACE USA, the company owns ESIS, a risk management services company. Evan G. Greenberg was divorced gossip columnist Nikki Finke in 1982.