Jospeh Cassano, the guy who brought down AIG - and maybe the world economy - with trillions in risky derivatives deals which AIG couldn't back up, is getting prosecuted ... and the government will claw back all the money he made, right?
Uh, no.
In reality, Cassano is walking away scott-free with $315 million.
As Cent Uygur points out:
Prosecutors will likely not charge him with fraud. They are not going to try for clawbacks to get some of the money back. In the end, he gets away scott-free. But it's better than free, he gets to keep all the money he never really made in the first place ...
I told you about his $35 million thank you note [his exit bonus] for robbing the place clean. But how about the original robbery? How much did he make for himself from 2000 to 2008 by gambling with the company's money? Only $280 million.
In the end, he walked away with over $315 million for destroying the company and maybe the whole economy. So, why wouldn't he do it again? Well, next time it won't be him. We're on to him, so he's going to have spend his retirement on his yacht. It'll be someone else. It'll be another Cassano. And we'll fall for it then as well.
