New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is accusing executives at Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. of prematurely awarding $3.6 billion in bonuses late last year, just days before Merrill was taken over by Bank of America Corp.

Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America paid $29.1 billion, including $8.6 billion in preferred stock, for Merrill Jan. 1. BofA received $20 billion in federal bailout funds to buy the troubled brokerage firm, which lost $15.3 billion in the fourth quarter.

The Associated Press has reported that Cuomo made the claims in a letter sent Wednesday to U.S. House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank.

"In a surprising fit of corporate irresponsibility, it appears that, instead of disclosing their bonus plans in a transparent way as requested by my office, Merrill Lynch secretly moved up the planned date to allocate bonuses and then richly rewarded their failed executives," Cuomo wrote.

In addition, Cuomo contends that BofA was aware of the decision to award bonuses before Merrill's fourth-quarter earnings were announced. BofA spokesman Scott Silvestri told the AP that Merrill Lynch was an independent company when its compensation committee approved the bonuses.

Cuomo's allegations follow his decision to issue subpoenas late last month seeking the testimony of former Merrill CEO John Thain, as well as the testimony of BofA Chief Administrative Officer J. Steele Alphin.

The subpoenas are part of an ongoing inquiry into billions of dollars in bonuses paid by Merrill Lynch late last year. The fact that Merrill appears to have moved up the timetable to pay bonuses before its merger with Bank of America warrants further investigation, Cuomo's office said.

The North Carolina Department of Justice also has requested documents from BofA regarding bonuses paid to Merrill workers.

BofA initially $25 billion under the Troubled Asset Relief Program before getting the additional $20 billion.