27 Months and he'll know every song.
Posted on 08/11/2006 12:14:10 PM PDT by Cagey
FORT SMITH, Arkansas (Reuters) - Tom Coughlin, the former Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) vice chairman who admitted to stealing thousands of dollars from the company, was sentenced on Friday to 27 months of home confinement.
Coughlin, who joined Wal-Mart in 1978 and worked closely with legendary founder Sam Walton, had faced up to 28 years in prison and $1.35 million in fines after he pleaded guilty in January to wire fraud and tax evasion.
Wal-Mart had accused Coughlin of misappropriating as much as $500,000 through misuse of gift cards and bogus invoices, and said he used the money to buy an odd assortment of items including customized dog kennels and a Celine Dion CD.
27 Months and he'll know every song.
Lock the bugger up and throw away the key. He's a criminal as much as Willie Sutton was.
>
Ahhhhhhh, now I know the real meaning of your screen name.
LOL!
Here's a stupid question - how old is the guy, and does he have some serious illness?
Reuters....why should I believe this?
I don't know his age, but he does suffer from a rare disease than only affects folks from Arkansas. It is called "Clintonista" and makes you steal from folks that trust you and blame them for making you do it. Also has been known to affect politicians and their wives/girlfriends too! There is no known cure but people who suffer from it are usually called democrats. :0 )
• 1978: Hired as director of loss prevention
• 1983: Named head of human resources
• 1999: Named president of the Wal-Mart Stores division
• October 2003: Elected to Wal-Mart's board
• October 2003: Collapses while excercising and is treated for a coranary blockage
• Jan. 24, 2005: Retires as an executive with Wal-Mart
• Mar. 25, 2005: Forced to resign from Wal-Mart's board
By Michael Barbaro
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, July 15, 2005; D01
As the head of Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s U.S. operations, with a compensation package topping $4 million last year, Thomas M. Coughlin dipped into company funds to pay for CDs, beer, an all-terrain vehicle, a customized dog kennel, even a computer as his son's graduation gift -- all the while describing the purchases as routine business expenses, according to a company report released yesterday.
Coughlin misappropriated hundreds of thousands of dollars while serving as Wal-Mart's No. 2 executive by colluding with a loyal group of subordinates, including a former Wal-Mart vice president, Jared Bowen, who says he was fired for blowing the whistle on Coughlin, the report concluded.
The company report says that rather than sniffing out the wrongdoing as he says he did, Bowen actively engaged in the scheme by repeatedly approving or facilitating improper spending by Coughlin and his friends, such as the purchase of $900 worth of duck hunting gear and $1,700 for a computer Coughlin said he needed for a "union project."
Wal-Mart's release of the 25-page report, plus nearly 100 pages of documentation, underscores its resolve to discredit both Coughlin and Bowen, who since being fired by the company have leveled potentially damaging allegations against the Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer.
<-snip->
According to Wal-Mart's report, Coughlin, a 27-year company veteran, hunting partner of founder Sam Walton and a towering presence in the chain, inhabited a world of bogus expense forms, phony invoices and misappropriated gift cards. These were routinely used to buy mundane products such as charcoal, contact lenses and thermal underwear and extravagant ones such as computers and customized hunting equipment, according to Wal-Mart's report.
In one case, the report said, Coughlin directed a subordinate to buy $2,000 worth of Wal-Mart gift cards, ostensibly to hand out to low-level employees during store visits. Instead, he used them to buy food, beer, wine and hunting supplies, the report said. In another, he asked Mississippi hunting supply company Mossy Oak for an all-terrain vehicle. Wal-Mart funds were used to pay for $8,500 of the cost, with $2,200 covered by Mossy Oak -- a violation of Wal-Mart's strictly enforced ban on gifts from suppliers or potential suppliers, the report said.
In addition to facilitating Coughlin's improper spending, Wal-Mart said, Bowen repeatedly sought bogus reimbursements for himself. He submitted two reimbursements requests for the same trip to California; two requests for the same iPod, purportedly purchased for Coughlin; and three requests for the same rental car.
Between customer theft and employee theft, it's amazing that WalMart stays in business.
At a store nearby, a manager was just fired for giving himself gift cards courtesy of the company. And the daily theft by customers is unbelievable. Empty condom and band-aid boxes are found stuffed among the store shelves almost daily.
In this case, looks like their loss prevention needs loss prevention!
I was a Wal-Mart LP for 5 years, my recovery from shoplifters was in the $4-5K rang a year, my recovery from associate theft was $1-2.5Million per year.
Too bad he couldn't have found a Liberal judge who might have given him a light sentence since he was stealing from WAL-MART.
What I don't get is, obviously this guy was making a huge salary. Why in heavens name would he stoop to ripping off the company for a Celine Dion CD he could easily afford? Something is screwed up in this man's psyche.
"...and a Celine Dion CD."
Oh, come on. Anyone that would steal $500,000.00 from their company wouldn't think TWICE about just pocketing a CD. I'm doubtful he paid for it with his ill-gotten gains. ;)
Just warming you up for our Saturday Wal-Mart Bashing Session. ;)
They went too easy on the guy, IMO.........
If he had shoplifted it, Celine wouldn't have received her royalties. Maybe he has a thing for her and didn't want to see her suffer.
That's right.. A true justice system where ordinary people would be thrown in jail with the key tossed out into the ocean while these special eliest jerks get a break all the way around. I would say this is designed this way to make a us really mad. How about us getting rid of all of those knee jerk creeps in Congress and courts and elsewhere. A few of them would look great right about now staring out of a jail cell for a looooooong time.
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