Conn. court affirms award in millionaire's divorce

HARTFORD (AP) -- 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.

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.

In addition to the $24 million in cash, Susan Sosin got to keep the couple's $3.6 million Manhattan apartment, the $2 million Utah ski house, an $800,000 home in Wallkill, N.Y., $6 million in her brokerage accounts, eight cars and $2.9 million in jewelry, among other things.

Howard Sosin, whose fortune was estimated at $168 million in 2005, got to keep $89 million in bank accounts, $22 million in fine art, 10 cars, $960,000 worth of private club memberships, the couple's two mansions in Fairfield, Conn., and three desert properties in Arizona.

The Sosins met in 1978 when Howard Sosin was an assistant professor at Columbia University. She was married to another man and working in retail at the time.

Howard Sosin founded AIG Financial Products with former AIG chief executive Hank Greenberg in 1987 and served as president and chief operating officer until 1993, when he left following differences with Greenberg. After litigation, AIG gave Sosin $182 million.

During the divorce trial, Susan Sosin admitted in testimony that she became intimate with a rock climbing guide in 1996, saying it was a spontaneous and isolated occurrence. She also testified that she met a married man during a flight to China in 2000 and had a lengthy affair with him, the Connecticut Post reported during the trial.

After Howard Sosin was ordered to pay his ex-wife the $24 million, he noticed Judge Owens had overvalued a bank or brokerage account by $3.7 million, court documents show. When he paid her the $20 million, it represented the $24 million minus the $3.7 million and minus nearly $180,000 in various other items.

Howard Sosin argued that the original divorce award gave Susan Sosin the $45 million in assets and awarded him the remainder. He put a value on the remainder, declared that amount his award and subtracted the judge's overvaluation of the bank or brokerage account. But the Supreme Court ruled that Owens specifically set Susan Sosin's award amount, and that was the total she was due.

Howard Sosin remarried in 2006 and bought a home in Palm Beach, Fla., last October for $5 million, according to a report by the Palm Beach Daily News.