SPRINGFIELD — Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza hired Debjani D. Desai earlier this month as her office’s general counsel.A veteran of state agencies, Desai started her legal career prosecuting white-collar crimes in Cook County.“I found a lot of honor and prestige in what public defenders and prosecutors do and I knew that’s what I wanted to do. I wanted to give people a voice, people who couldn’t represent themselves or speak up for themselves,” Desai said. “I knew I wanted to …