The Connecticut Supreme Court has upheld a $3.8 million judgment against the founder of AIG Financial Products Corp. who was found to have short-changed his ex-wife in one of the country’s largest divorce cases, The Associated Press reports.
Howard Sosin, 60, a derivatives expert who founded the company in 1987 and left in 1993, was ordered by a lower court judge in Bridgeport to pay Susan Sosin nearly $24 million in cash after their 2005 divorce trial, in addition to the nearly $20 million in real estate and personal property awarded to her.
He filed for divorce in 2003 after discovering hundreds of e-mails between his wife and her lover, and she later admitted in court to having two affairs.
But when it came time to hand over the money, Howard Sosin initially paid her only about $20 million in November 2005, claiming the judge overvalued one of his bank accounts. He did pay her what he considered the remainder — $4 million — in March 2006, representing the $3.8 million plus interest, but he appealed to the state Appellate and Supreme courts.
In a decision released Thursday, the Supreme Court upheld an Appellate Court decision that confirmed the rulings of Superior Court Judge Howard Owens Jr., who had ordered Howard Sosin to pay his ex-wife the $24 million and later ordered him to pay the remainder plus interest.
Susan Sosin, 57, who is active in charitable causes and splits her time between her Manhattan apartment and her ski house in Utah, is pleased with the high court’s decision because it essentially ends the long-running dispute, said her lawyer, Frederic Siegel. He said the only remaining issue is the exact amount of interest Howard Sosin owes.
“I think the best thing that the Supreme Court did was bring finality to the case for these people,” Siegel said Friday. “It’s one of the longest cases I’ve been involved with.”
Howard Sosin and his lawyers didn’t return messages Friday. A message was also left for Susan Sosin.
After Owens announced Susan Sosin’s $45 million award in March 2005, legal experts said it ranked among the largest in the country.
