GREENBERG TO FACE JUDGE HE ACCUSED OF BIAS

New York State Supreme Court Justice Charles Ramos has rejected a request by former AIG boss Maurice “Hank” Greenberg for a jury to hear the civil case brought against him by the New York state attorney general’s office on allegations that he committed accounting fraud while at the helm of the locally based insurer. Instead, Justice Ramos will hear the non-jury trial. He issued the ruling weeks after a state appeals court rejected Mr Greenberg’s request to have Justice Ramos removed from the case on the grounds that he is biased against the executive. The case against Mr Greenberg and former AIG chief financial officer Howard Smith centres on two sham reinsurance deals with Berkshire Hathaway’s General Re unit that enabled AIG to improperly boost reserves by $500m in 2000 and 2001.