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NEW YORK - Maurice R. "Hank" Greenberg abruptly resigned as longtime chairman of American International Group Inc. amid a threat that the New York attorney general would indict AIG if he was still at the embattled company's helm as it faced growing government investigations, The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday.
The Journal, quoting unidentified sources, said Attorney General Eliot Spitzer told AIG lawyers he was dismayed over what he called a "document caper" in Bermuda.
On March 25, a lawyer for Greenberg carted boxes of documents out of an AIG office and into a van in Bermuda, the sources told the Journal.
The next day, lawyers hired by AIG to handle a regulatory investigation found certain records were missing and that an AIG employee had destroyed some computer records and tape recordings of business meetings, the sources said.
There was a confrontation between the lawyers for AIG and attorneys representing Greenberg over who should secure the rest of the documents, the Journal said.
Greenberg stepped down as chairman 48 hours after Spitzer threatened the next day - last Saturday - to have his office indict AIG on Monday if action wasn't taken.
"As long as Hank's still the chairman, AIG is still accountable," Spitzer told AIG's outside lawyers on the phone last Saturday night while on a Colorado skiing vacation, the Journal's sources said. "You have serious criminal exposure."
Some of AIG's independent directors argued Greenberg had to go immediately to protect the company, the Journal said. Those directors had essentially taken control of the company because of the investigations into whether AIG bolstered its financial condition with improper accounting.
Greenberg, 79, retired before he was forced out, the Journal reported. Through his attorney, David Boies, Greenberg declined to comment to the Journal, and an AIG spokesman also declined to comment.
The Journal, quoting unidentified sources, said Attorney General Eliot Spitzer told AIG lawyers he was dismayed over what he called a "document caper" in Bermuda.
On March 25, a lawyer for Greenberg carted boxes of documents out of an AIG office and into a van in Bermuda, the sources told the Journal.
The next day, lawyers hired by AIG to handle a regulatory investigation found certain records were missing and that an AIG employee had destroyed some computer records and tape recordings of business meetings, the sources said.
There was a confrontation between the lawyers for AIG and attorneys representing Greenberg over who should secure the rest of the documents, the Journal said.
Greenberg stepped down as chairman 48 hours after Spitzer threatened the next day - last Saturday - to have his office indict AIG on Monday if action wasn't taken.
"As long as Hank's still the chairman, AIG is still accountable," Spitzer told AIG's outside lawyers on the phone last Saturday night while on a Colorado skiing vacation, the Journal's sources said. "You have serious criminal exposure."
Some of AIG's independent directors argued Greenberg had to go immediately to protect the company, the Journal said. Those directors had essentially taken control of the company because of the investigations into whether AIG bolstered its financial condition with improper accounting.
Greenberg, 79, retired before he was forced out, the Journal reported. Through his attorney, David Boies, Greenberg declined to comment to the Journal, and an AIG spokesman also declined to comment.
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