Former AIG Boss Goes To Trial On Fraud Charges

(RTTNews) - Trial of American International Group Inc's former Chairman Maurice Greenberg began on Tuesday at a state courthouse in Manhattan over accounting fraud committed at the insurance company several years ago.

The civil case against Greenberg was filed in May 2005 by former New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. Greenberg faces allegations of orchestrating a $500 million transaction to inflate the insurer's reserves and a $200 million transaction to hide underwriting losses.

Former AIG Chief Financial Officer Howard Smith is also named as a defendant.