Washington - Bonuses paid to top officials at ailing insurer American International Group Inc (AIG) were higher than previously reported, a Connecticut state prosecutor told CNN Saturday.

AIG employees received 218 million dollars in bonuses in recent months, higher than the 165 million dollars previously reported, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal told the broadcaster, citing information he'd gathered from subpoenaed documents.

The bonuses have caused a political firestorm in the United States, given that AIG has received 200 billion dollars in federal money in a series of federal government bail-outs since September.

AIG had previously announced plans to disburse up to 1 billion dollars in bonuses this year, despite sharp losses in the ongoing financial crisis.

An AIG spokesman told CNN that Blumenthal's numbers were incorrect because he was factoring in bonuses that had already been distributed in 2008.

Reacting to the national backlash against AIG, the US House of Representatives, the lower house of the legislature, passed a measure Friday that would levy a 90-per-cent tax on bonuses at companies that receive more than 5 billion dollars in federal funds. The measure cannot become law until it is also approved by the Senate. (dpa)