Wednesday, October 08, 2008

AIG parties, has spa treatments while world economies slump

AIG sent its executives to the coastal St. Regis resort south of Los Angeles even as the company tapped into an $85 billion loan from the government it needed to stave off bankruptcy. The resort tab included $23,380 worth of spa treatments for AIG employees, according to invoices the resort turned over to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
clipped from news.yahoo.com
Former CEO of AIG Martin Sullivan, center, waits to testify later today before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2008, as lawmakers probe the role of insurance giant AIG in the  financial meltdown requiring government bailout.  (AP Photo/Lawrence Jackson)


WASHINGTON - Days after it got a federal bailout, American International Group Inc. spent $440,000 on a posh California retreat for its executives, complete with spa treatments, banquets and golf outings, according to lawmakers investigating the company's meltdown.

"Average Americans are suffering economically. They're losing their jobs, their homes and their health insurance," the committee's chairman, Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., scolded the company during a lengthy opening statement at a hearing Tuesday. "Yet less than one week after the taxpayers rescued AIG, company executives could be found wining and dining at one of the most exclusive resorts in the nation."

"It seems very inappropriate," Willumstad said in response to questioning from Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md.

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