Former executive accused in spending scandal

Monday, July 18, 2005 | 9:52 a.m.

Wal-Mart alleges the personal expenses that former vice chairman Thomas Coughlin made the company pay for ranged "from the petty to the extravagant," according to a document it filed with the Labor Department last week.

One costly expenditure, it alleges, was $8,500 to buy a Polaris Ranger 6x6, an all-terrain vehicle for hunting, from a Wal-Mart vendor. The vendor contributed $2,200.

Another was $6,250 every six months to lease a Texas hunting property.

Wal-Mart says Coughlin was aided by a former officer, Jared Bowen, who headed a department that pays for many of the company's national administrative expenses.

Bowen claims he brought Coughlin's actions to light by reporting two bogus expense reports to a Wal-Mart executive after Coughlin retired. After he was fired in March, he complained to the Labor Department, seeking whistle-blower protection, reinstatement and back pay.

Wal-Mart says in the document it filed last week that Bowen's "purported whistle-blowing was a calculated attempt to divert suspicion from himself at a time that he feared company investigators were about to uncover the widespread fraud in his department."

Bowen's attorney, Steve Kardell, said Friday that Wal-Mart was trying to make Bowen a scapegoat.

(BREAKOUT MATERIAL)

The story so far:

-- Dec. 6, 2004. Thomas Coughlin, vice chairman of Wal-Mart Stores, announces retirement, effective Jan. 24, 2005, after 27-year career. He became vice chairman and joined board of directors in 2003.

-- March 25. Coughlin resigns from board after an internal probe related to his use of company funds for personal expenses. Vice president Jared Bowen was fired along with three Wal-Mart associates as result of the probe. Wal-Mart refers matter to the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas.

-- April 8. Coughlin's attorney says his client did not seek or obtain improper reimbursements from Wal-Mart. The Wall Street Journal reports Coughlin had told several Wal-Mart employees he was using the money for secret anti-union activities.

-- April 12. United Food and Commercial Workers files unfair labor practice charge against Wal-Mart based on the Journal's report.

-- May 23. Bowen files complaint with Department of Labor, charging unlawful retaliatory firing; seeks whistle-blower protection.

-- July 14. Wal-Mart answers Bowen's complaint, saying he was fired for involvement in an "extensive scheme to misappropriate corporate assets" for Coughlin's personal benefit. Company says it's found no evidence funds Coughlin used were paid to union informants or to deter unionization.

-- July 14. Coughlin attorney criticizes Wal-Mart for withholding documents because of federal investigation, then posting them on its Web site.