The hits keep coming for John Thain, whose stellar reputation has been badly tarnished by the collapse of Merrill Lynch and some questionable decisions. The latest: New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has opened an investigation into Thain's decision to pay billions of dollars in bonuses days before the closing of its sale to Bank of America and the disclosure of $1 billion in operating losses for 2008, according to the Financial Times. 

Bank of America was forced to promptly seek additional bailout funds from the government to close the deal. Before Thain's ouster, he may have been aiming to score some PR points. He bought 84,600 shares of Bank of America at $5.71 each, bringing his total to about 764,000 shares.

For more:
- here's the FT article

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