From several books I have read on the subject, I understood that Maheu was involved totally with Hughes while he was at the DI and handled all his casino purchases. Mahue was not pushed out until right after Hughes left the DI. Maheu was the one who suggested to Hughes to buy the DI so he could stay longer. After a battle with Gay and Davis in the courts, Maheu was finally replaced as the one running the Hughes operation but this was after Hughes moved on to the Bahamas.