ALBANY, New York (AP) ? Despite state laws that limit corporations from giving more than $5,000 a year to political candidates, insurance giant American International Group Inc. has used a loophole to let its subsidiaries give many times that limit to politicians who regulate their business, a newspaper reported yesterday. AIG used 33 subsidiaries in recent years to give $335,000 to three-term Republican Governor George Pataki; $50,000 to state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, the Democratic front-runner for governor; and $25,000 to Democratic Comptroller Alan Hevesi, according to The New York Times.

?That happens all the time,? said Rachel Leon of New York-Common Cause, which for years has lobbied to reform this and other campaign finance practices. ?It?s just one of the many loopholes that make our campaign finance laws meaningless,? she said.

A spokesman for the state Board of Elections, Lee Daghlian, said his office is not looking into the contributions.

?As far as I can see, it?s within the parameters of our law,? Daghlian said.

The corporate limits were created in the mid-1970s to restrict the influence of companies on candidates, he said.

The contributions in 2003 to Spitzer, the two-term attorney general, were made before Spitzer investigated AIG and its then CEO, Maurice (Hank) Greenberg.

AIG said in February that it would pay $1.64 billion to resolve allegations that it used deceptive accounting practices to mislead investors and regulatory agencies.