Have you heard the latest?
A.I.G. is suing the U.S. government for the return of $306 Million in tax payments that were related to deals conducted through offshore tax havens.
The lawsuit contends in part that the federal government owes A.I.G. nearly $62 million in foreign tax credits related to eight foreign entities, with names like Lumagrove, Laperouse and Foppingadreef, that were set up or controlled by financial products, often through a unit known as Pinestead Holdings.
You read that right.
A.I.G. filed refund claims for nearly $62 million in 2008, which were denied by the I.R.S. on the grounds that A.I.G. had improperly calculated the credits. Journalist Lynnley Browning notes:
The I.R.S. has identified so-called foreign tax-credit generators as an area of abuse that it is increasingly monitoring.
And how about the rest of their so-called claim?
The remainder of A.I.G.’s claim, for $244 million, concerns net operating loss carry-backs, capital loss carry-backs, a general refund claim and claims for refunds of other tax-related payments that A.I.G. says it made to the I.R.S. but are now owed back. The claim also covers $119 million in penalties and interest that A.I.G. says it is due back from the government.
The lawsuit, filed on Feb. 27 in Federal District Court in Manhattan, suggests it's possible they're using taxpayer dollars to wage its fight.
But that's not all.
The lawsuit...details, among other things, certain tax-related dealings of the financial products unit, the once high-flying division that has been singled out for its role in A.I.G.’s financial crisis last fall. Other deals involved A.I.G. offshore entities whose function centers on executive compensation and include C. V. Starr & Company, a closely held concern controlled by Maurice R. Greenberg, A.I.G.’s former chairman, and the Starr International Company, a privately held enterprise incorporated in Panama, and commonly known as SICO.
AIGFP, Joe Cassano's old unit, and the disgraced Maurice "Hank" Greenberg, ousted Chief Executive Officer of AIG? Say no more.
When asked about the case on Thursday, Mark Herr, an A.I.G. spokesman, said:
"A.I.G. is taking this action to ensure that it is not required to pay more than its fair share of taxes."
Feel better?
I'm at a loss for words.
But I've got plenty of questions, chief among them: Where in hell do they grow these people?
Source material: New York Times - A.I.G. Sues U.S. for Return of $306 Million in Tax Payments, by Lynnley Browning