 Later, Andrew Mellon joined the board to represent the government's interest.In 1921, Richard Merton filed a claim with the government asserting that the confiscation of AMCO shares was unlawful as the shares had been transferred to a Swiss subsidiary before the U.S. involvement in World War I; he also bribed some government officials to assist in his recovery.Unfortunately for Merton, the bribes were exposed and the claim rejected (and President Harding's Attorney General Harry Daugherty was tried twice and acquitted twice for his alleged involvement while Alien Property Custodian Thomas W. Miller was convicted).