BUSINESS BRIEFS
AIG chief contrite before Congress
Advertiser news services
WASHINGTON — The head of battered insurance giant AIG told Congress yesterday that "we've heard the American people loudly and clearly" in their rage over executive bonuses, and he appealed to employees to return at least half the money.
Testifying under oath at a congressional hearing as intense as any in recent memory, Edward Liddy said some workers already have stepped forward to give money back.
The company became the target of a political firestorm after the disclosure over the weekend that it had paid $165 million in "retention bonuses" to its employees at the same time it was accepting bailout funds from U.S. taxpayers.
ACCOUNTANT FOR MADOFF ARRESTED
NEW YORK — Bernard Madoff's longtime accountant was arrested on fraud charges yesterday, as authorities blamed him for failing to make the most basic auditing checks that would have exposed an epic fraud that cost investors billions of dollars.David Friehling is the first person to be arrested in the scandal since Madoff turned himself in, and his prosecution signals that the government is intent on bringing Madoff's associates to justice as they try to figure out who helped him carry out the fraud.
Prosecutors say the 49-year-old Friehling essentially rubber-stamped Madoff's books for 17 years, serving as Madoff's auditor from 1991 through 2008 while operating from a discreet building in suburban New York.
JUDGE DEMANDS BONUS DISCLOSURE
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A New York state judge yesterday ordered Bank of America Corp. to disclose information about bonuses given to employees at Merrill Lynch & Co. just before the bank bought the brokerage company.New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and Bank of America have been sparring over the release of the information for weeks. Cuomo is investigating whether Bank of America and Merrill failed to provide proper disclosures to shareholders about the bonuses.
CONSUMER PRICES SOARED IN FEB.
WASHINGTON — Consumer prices rose in February by the largest amount in seven months as gasoline prices surged again and clothing costs jumped the most in nearly two decades.But the increase appeared to ease many economists' concerns about dangerous price movements in either direction.
The Labor Department reported yesterday that consumer inflation rose 0.4 percent in February, the biggest one-month jump since a 0.7 percent rise in July.
