In 1940, two years into their relationship, the Justice Department forced Golos to register as an agent of the Soviet government under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. This increased his risk in contacting the network of American spies he controlled, and accepting documents from them. He gradually transferred this responsibility to Bentley. Golos also needed someone to take charge of the day-to-day business of the United States Service and Shipping Corporation, a Comintern front organization for espionage activities. Bentley took on this role as well. Although she was never directly paid for any of her espionage work, she would eventually earn $800 a month as vice president of U.S. Service and Shipping, a considerable salary for the time, (per month). As Bentley acquired an important role in Soviet intelligence, the Soviets gave her the code name "Umnitsa", loosely translated as "Wise girl". (In some literature it is less correctly translated as "good girl".)