Bernanke Can Be Deposed in AIG Bailout Suit, Court Rules

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke will have to give testimony in a lawsuit against the U.S. brought by Maurice “Hank” Greenberg over the government’s bailout of American International Group Inc.

Greenberg’s Starr International Co. sued the U.S. for $25 billion in 2011, claiming the assumption of 80 percent of AIG’s stock by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in September 2008 was an unconstitutional seizure of property that violated shareholders’ rights to due process and equal protection of the law. Switzerland-based Starr contended Bernanke’s role in the transaction made his testimony critical.