A day after the New York Times claimed former AIG chief executive officer Maurice “Hank” Greenberg was steering talent to his new firm, Greenberg fired back, saying employee departures could have actually been avoided under a plan he advocated.

Maurice "Hank" Greenberg

In a statement from C.V. Starr, where Greenberg serves as chairman and CEO, the firm acknowledges that a number of AIG’s employees have left to join competitors, but only 13 have joined its New York-based operations.

“The reason that employees are leaving AIG has less to do with these other companies, and more to do with the current approach to AIG, which is unlikely to result in the repayment of the American taxpayer,” the statement reads.

The statement goes on to say that “a successful liquidation” of AIG, as first proposed by former U.S. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson in September 2008, “has proven impossible in the present economic climate, since buyers for AIG assets at fair values simply do not exist at this time.

“Fire-sale prices are bringing taxpayers, who now own almost 80% of AIG, only pennies on the dollar for their investment in AIG,” the company states.

C.V. Starr also contends that the U.S. Treasury’s plan to liquidate the company also devalued AIG as its people and its business “are heading for the exits.” Instead, the company points to Greenberg’s suggestion this April before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, that shuns the liquidation approach and instead, promotes government guarantees and long-term government funded debt, encouraging third-party capital over government ownership.

Among the 10 components of Greenberg’s proposal to the House committee were reducing government ownership to 15%, rather than the 80% currently owned by the Treasury.

At an insurance industry event in Washington, D.C., last November, Greenberg said by converting part of what the government owns to non-voting preferred stock, AIG could have raised capital.

“No one will invest in a nationalized company,” he said. “ I think it was counter-intuitive what they did.  Had they reduced ownership to 50%, it would have boosted stock price and attracted investors in the company. There is a lot of money in Europe and Asia that would invest if they could, but they won’t in a nationalized company.”

Kenneth Feinberg, the Obama Administration’s “pay czar,” reduced the salary of 12 of AIG’s top executives by 91%, Bloomberg reported, and bonuses will be withheld for five managers in the company’s Financial Products unit under his recent recommendations for companies that received assistance through the TARP program.