AIG executive says he was 'betrayed'

In a letter published by The New York Times Thursday, Jake DeSantis, an executive vice president with AIG's financial products unit, said, "I was no way involved in -- or responsible for -- the credit default swap transactions that have hamstrung AIG."

DeSantis claimed all but "a handful" of the 400 employees in the unit were not responsible for the massive losses in the division.

The company has been harshly criticized for scheduling $165 million in bonus checks in spite of losing billions of dollars in 2008 and accepting $170 billion in government relief.

But, with the House of Representative passing a tax bill targeting the bonus checks, DeSantis wrote he felt "betrayed ... after 12 months of hard work dismantling the company -- during which AIG reassured us many times we would be rewarded in March 2009."

"None of us should be cheated of our payments any more than a plumber should be cheated after he has fixed the pipes but a careless electrician causes a fire that burns down the house," he wrote.

Copyright 2009 by United Press International.