New York to Audit AIG Over Workers Comp NEW YORK (Reuters) - Regulators plan to audit American International Group Inc. to see how it booked tens of millions of dollars in premiums for workers' compensation, New York State's attorney general said on Tuesday as he stepped up his probe of the embattled insurance company. The attorney general, Eliot Spitzer, and New York's insurance superintendent, Howard Mills, said they would hire a consultant to conduct the audit, which centers on whether AIG (AIG.N: Quote , Profile , Research ) booked premiums for covering workers' compensation as premiums for covering general liability. Such a practice, which regulators said has apparently been discontinued, would help AIG avoid paying its true share into various workers' compensation funds. The conduct appears to have taken place for over a decade, and continued even after AIG insiders repeatedly challenged its legality, the regulators said in a statement. It is unclear when the practice stopped. An AIG spokesman was not immediately available for comment. Spitzer and Mills said one company document dating from the early 1990s estimated that AIG unlawfully pocketed tens of millions of dollars annually from the practice. They said the consultant would determine how much of this money -- if any -- should be paid to the state. New questions about AIG's accounting come just days before it is due to belatedly file its annual report. The company has said it plans to file the 10-k by April 30, after delaying it while it undertook an internal investigation of its accounting. AIG's review is covering much the same ground as probes by Spitzer and the Securities and Exchange Commission, which sources have said are examining everything from reinsurance deals with offshore entities to the suspect accounting for a transaction with Berkshire Hathaway Inc.'s General Re. Spitzer has said he expects to reach a civil settlement with AIG rather than bring criminal charges, but has not made clear whether or not he would indict Maurice "Hank" Greenberg, the former chairman and chief executive of AIG. Meanwhile, AIG's internal report is said to have uncovered at least $1 billion more in accounting problems, The New York Times reported on Tuesday. When the insurer last month announced the delay of its annual report and said its accounting for a number of transactions was improper, it estimated that its net worth would have to be lowered by $1.7 billion, or about 2 percent. But the impact could be greater, The New York Times reported, citing people briefed on an investigation ordered by the insurer into its accounting. The report on the investigation, carried out by a law firm, also raises serious questions about the integrity of AIG's financial-reporting systems, The Wall Street Journal reported. The report indicates that Greenberg and dismissed Chief Financial Officer Howard Smith oversaw critical aspects of the company without certain financial and accounting controls in place to oversee their work, the Journal said, citing people with knowledge of the report. (Additional reporting by Bill Rigby) Quelle "New York to Audit AIG Over Workers Comp" : reuters.com Main page for "New York to Audit AIG Over Workers Comp"