NEW YORK (TIP): “My company is now doing business in 20 states and this year we are expecting revenue of $1.5 billion,” This is what the CEO and Chairman of the Universal Healthcare Group in Florida, Akshay K Desai had told media only six months back, adding that Romney had “a few months ago visited my company and spent a couple of hours and I gave him a tour and explained to him what we do and he was quite impressed.” Sadly, the scene is not the same today.

The Medicare provider, which had been the employer of over a thousand people and more, has now gone bankrupt leaving a number of Indian American entrepreneurs and physicians hopeless after having invested $25 million in the company. The Surat born Akshay K Desai, Chairman and CEO, of the Universal Healthcare Group, stalwart in the Republican Party, major fundraiser, first Indian American to be appointed in the Finance Committee of a Republican Party and main mediator to Mitt Romney and the Indian Americans, is suddenly not as popular as then, with his party bosses and Governor Rick Scott now forcing him to step down from his post. “Governor Rick Scott called me and urged me to consider taking up this position, saying that I had the experience and was a long-time party loyalist and having been a staunch supporter of former governors Charlie Christ and Jeb Bush.

He also said that he was so impressed by my track record of activism in the Republican Party for nearly two decades.”, was what he said some time ago. “I resigned myself to devote 100 percent of my time to deal with my company issue,” is what he says today. “You have to realize, in business it requires more time and if I am not able to devote enough time for getting things done outside of my business, then the most prudent thing to do would be to resign and let somebody else who has more time to step in so they can do it.”

He declares that he needs “energy and all of my efforts are now entirely focused in helping the company to do better.” However, the sad part is that his company, now in great debt, is soon to be liquidated in order to get all outstanding policy claims and other debts paid off. All of its financial along with its revenue and assets have been mismanaged, misleading information has been released, the required amount of capital has not been maintained and over thousands of insurance policies have been ruined.

The company has also brought losses to major investors like Dr. Zach Zachariah and Raj Gupta from Fort Lauderdale, and a major fundraiser from the Republican Party, apart from various other Indian American entrepreneurs, physicians and academics, some of them even having invested over a million in the company. “All the investors have been right-royally screwed.”, says one among them. “It’s really pathetic and we are finding all kinds of shenanigans have been going on,”, said another.

“Florida insurance regulators have long had suspicions about Universal Health Care, the nearly insolvent St Petersburg Medicare insurer the state now accuses of fraud, forgery, embezzlement and other illegal financial conduct.”, reports the Tampa Bay Times. “As you know, quite a few of my friends and family, they are also investors in the company and so, I am doing my best to make sure that nobody gets financially hurt.”, a broken Desai says.