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| Friends of former AIG Chairman Hank Greenberg are asking some prominent figures to lend their names to a campaign to boost his image. |
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NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -
Friends of Maurice "Hank" Greenberg, the former American International Group Inc. chairman facing legal action over alleged improper accounting, are asking powerful figures in the financial world and beyond to help bolster his image, according to a published report Saturday.
The Wall Street Journal's weekend edition says letters have been sent to the figures -- including former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, Citigroup chairman and former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, and PBS talk-show host Charlie Rose – asking permission to use their names in a public-relations campaign to bolster the 80-year-old Greenberg's image.
Among others receiving the letter: Wall Street Journal publisher Peter Kann. A spokeswoman for Kann told his paper that he won't participate in the campaign because it would be perceived as taking sides in a story the Journal has to cover.
Kissinger wasn't available to the Journal for comment. The paper says others who have received the letters wouldn't say if they'll join the effort.
The Journal says the letters were written by Vincent Tese, an outside director of Bear Stearns Cos. and a former New York state director of economic development. The list of recipients was compiled by Greenberg, according to the paper.
Greenberg was ousted by the AIG (Research) board in March as the business insurance company faced state and federal investigations of improper accounting. In May, New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer filed suit against AIG and Greenberg, alleging a pattern of fraud through the use of "sham transactions" that bolstered the Dow Jones industrial average component's financial statements.
Greenberg's attorney have said the former chairman played no role in any accounting missteps the company committed, according to the Journal.
Greenberg's company files suit against AIG. Click here for details.
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