Federal prosecutors have been prevented from bringing up controversial retention bonuses in a in a civil case against beleaguered insurance and financial services giant AIG, a judge has ruled. “This is a case about an alleged trust and an alleged conversion of valuable share,” U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff said. “It’s not a forum for airing all the innumerable other issues.” AIG has faced numerous investigations over $165 million in retention bonuses paid to members of its AIG Financial Products unit after it received billions of dollars in government bailout money. The Financial Products unit has been blamed by some, including New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, for AIG’s near-collapse last year. AIG’s Woodland Hills operations now operate under another of the company’s brand identities, namely SunAmerica. Thom Senzee
