Connecticut's attorney general has demanded an explanation as to why insurance giant American International Group apparently paid out US$53 million more in bonuses than previously reported.
Documents turned over to the attorney general's office late Friday show that AIG paid $218 million to members of its financial products division last weekend, despite reporting that only $165 million had been paid out.
Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who had issued a subpoena to secure the information, said the bonuses had been "showered like confetti" on AIG employees.
Previously, AIG had disclosed that the company was required to pay $165 million in "retention pay" to employees in its Connecticut-based financial products unit by March 15. The company said another $55 million had been paid out to some 400 AIG Financial Product employees.
Blumenthal said the $220 million -- the previously disclosed $165 million plus the $55 million -- was about $2 million higher than the figure disclosed Friday. He wanted the company to explain which figures are accurate and if they differ from what was previously reported.
"Unless the number can be explained, it will undercut any lingering rationale the company may have for these unjustified payments," Blumenthal told The Associated Press in an interview on Saturday.
An AIG spokesperson did not offer comment on the matter to The Associated Press.
Blumenthal said the documents show that 73 AIG employees received bonuses of more than $1 million and five of them received bonuses of more than $4 million.
"The initial number was so outrageous that it will further fuel the justified anger and revulsion that people feel," Blumenthal said.
"It simply shows how these people should been shoved out the door, not showered with cash," he added."
The controversial bonuses have stirred emotions throughout the U.S., spurring widespread criticism and prompting Congress to push forward a bill that would tax 90 per cent of the bonus payments made to AIG employees.
AIG has so far received $182.5 billion in federal money to keep it from failing.
With files from The Associated Press
