While the bank executives were testifying on Capitol Hill, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo disclosed new details about how Merrill Lynch paid out over $3 billion in bonuses last year just before the company was sold to Bank of America. 700 Merrill Lynch employees received bonuses of $1 million or more in 2008, even though the brokerage firm lost $27 billion. The top four bonus recipients received a total of $121 million in bonuses.