ACE Ltd. today fired two employees and suspended three after an internal investigation prompted by charges of bid-rigging from New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.

Geoffrey Gregory, president of US-based Ace Casualty Risk, and Patricia Abrams, an employee in the unit, were fired, ACE said in a statement. Abrams pleaded guilty last month to charges of bid- rigging.

ACE began its review after Spitzer sued Marsh & McLennan Cos., the world's largest insurance broker, for steering clients to insurers that paid it the highest fees and fabricating bids to create the appearance of competition.

Marsh chief executive officer Jeffrey Greenberg, brother of ACE chief executive officer Evan Greenberg, was forced to resign after Spitzer refused to negotiate with him.

Ace didn't identify the employees who were suspended.

They worked in a unit that did business principally with Marsh's global broking division. Marsh has dismissed four executives, including the unit's executive marketing director, William Gilman, the Wall Street Journal reported today, citing people familiar with the matter.