Tampa Bay Times by Susan Taylor Martin
“We ultimately came to the conclusion that the state of Florida acted somewhat nefariously in orchestrating the receivership and they were doing a deal with someone (Mahmood) who was committing a crime,” said attorney Daniel Nicholas, who represents Desai.
In allegedly recording Desai and others without their permission, which would violate state law, Mahmood “was possibly hoping they would incriminate themselves, but they never did,” Nicholas said.
A judge in Tallahassee could rule Friday on a motion that could eventually require Desai to relinquish $2.5 million in compensation he received while at Universal’s helm. But in his response, Desai says he was entitled to the money because Universal was solvent, contrary to what Mahmood had led regulators to believe.
Mahmood could not be reached for comment. Calling Desai’s allegations “entirely baseless,” Florida’s Department of Financial Services said in a statement Wednesday that it gave Mahmood “absolutely no assurances” about his future employment.
“As this matter relates to ongoing and active litigation, no further comments will be provided,”‘ the statement said. [READ MORE]