March 24 (Bloomberg) -- Nine of the top 10 recipients of bonuses at American International Group Inc. agreed to give back the money and half of the total $165 million paid may be retrieved, said New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.

Cuomo said 15 of the top 20 bonus recipients agreed to return their entire bonuses, accounting for $30 million. Employees have agreed to give back $50 million in all, and it might be possible to recoup $80 million, Cuomo said. He said there is no “public interest” in identifying those who return the money.

AIG paid $165 million in “retention” bonuses this month to employees of its Financial Products unit, whose losses almost drove the company out of business. The bonuses, granted while AIG was getting a federal bailout package valued at $182.5 billion, sparked outrage from President Barack Obama, lawmakers and the public. The company has said its employees have been subject to hate mail, harassment and death threats.

Cuomo, who got the names of AIG’s bonus recipients last week after he subpoenaed them, said yesterday in a conference call with reporters that he was continuing to assess the security risks of releasing the names. He said he won’t identify those who give back the bonuses.

“If a person returns the money, I don’t believe there’s a public interest in releasing their name,” Cuomo said. Of the bonuses paid by the New York-based insurer, about 47 percent went to Americans, who are within his jurisdiction, Cuomo said.

‘Deeply Gratified’

“We are deeply gratified that a vast majority of FP’s senior leadership have expressed a willingness to forsake their recent retention payments,” AIG said in an e-mailed statement. “We continue to review the responses of our other FP employees.”

AIG said its employees are in the midst of an “orderly wind-down” of the Financial Products business.

Five senior executives in the unit who had received bonuses resigned over the past couple of days, AIG spokesman Mark Herr said in an e-mail today. As things stand now, he said, “the wind down will continue largely unaffected.”

The return of bonuses follows comments yesterday by U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat from Nevada, that Republicans had asked for time to study a proposal to impose a 70 percent tax on such bonuses.

Cuomo said his office has had some direct conversations with bonus recipients. He said there was no implied threat for people who don’t give up the bonuses that their names would be released. He said some people have refused to give back the bonuses.

Fraudulent Conveyance

Cuomo has pursued the bonuses based on a New York law involving so-called fraudulent conveyance. If the AIG contracts were signed when people involved knew the company’s finances were in trouble, it could lead to fraudulent conveyance, he says.

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said yesterday he was in discussions with AIG about employees subpoenaed last week to testify before the state’s Banks Committee on March 26. The Financial Products unit is located in Wilton, Connecticut.

“We are mindful of security and safety concerns, seeking to be responsive and responsible in addressing them,” Blumenthal said in a statement. “If AIG fails to cooperate, we will take appropriate and aggressive action to enforce these lawful subpoenas.”

AIG said the company is talking to Connecticut about the best way to provide the information “that allows for a thoughtful discussion of this issue and removes the overheated emotion that has swirled around it and resulted in our employees being subjected to death threats, hate mail and harassment.”

AIG said it provided Connecticut with a “substantial amount of information” over the past three days and is willing to answer any questions

On March 19, the U.S. House of Representatives voted for a 90 percent tax on some bonuses paid by AIG and other companies that got bailouts. Later that day, four senators introduced a measure to impose a 70 percent tax on bonuses, split between the employee and company, in addition to existing income taxes. Reid sought immediate Senate passage over Republican objections.

To contact the reporter on this story: Karen Freifeld in New York at kfreifeld@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: March 24, 2009 09:12 EDT