Steve Voboril?

[Spaniel with a Short Tail]

Take internal investigations with a grain of salt. Those "investigators" know that to make a name for yourself, you need to find wrongdoing by employees - the more spectacular the better for your career advancement.

[keefe]

Take internal investigations with a grain of salt. Those "investigators" know that to make a name for yourself, you need to find wrongdoing by employees - the more spectacular the better for your career advancement.

So..."Vobs" is innocent and the "investigators" are guilty of dishonesty and unethical behavior? Sure.

[mu-rara]

So..."Vobs" is innocent and the "investigators" are guilty of dishonesty and unethical behavior? Sure.

Keefe, not like you to convict on a newspaper article.

I agree it does not look good, but let's wait for the trial.

[forgetful]

Take internal investigations with a grain of salt. Those "investigators" know that to make a name for yourself, you need to find wrongdoing by employees - the more spectacular the better for your career advancement.

This is a bit absurd.  First, even if there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for him writing 100's of thousands of dollars of checks to himself, he still did not follow appropriate protocol to demonstrate the validity of those transactions.

At the very least that is a gross violation of proper conduct that has brought negative press to the company.  Further it damages relations with ongoing clients.  For that alone, the investigators are in the right (because he did not follow proper protocol) and firing and reporting of the wrongdoing to the police for further investigation is justified.  

The legal system can now look into these transactions further and find if any criminal wrongdoing existed.  Hopefully if they do, he faces a lengthy prison sentence.

Second, all this talk of him being a nice guy is absurd.  Everyone thought Sandusky was a great guy because of all the things he did for the community.  Every serial murderer we hear about, his friends always say how nice of a guy he is.  Fact of the matter is how one acts in public does not necessarily reflect their inner desires or how they act in private.  

[rocket surgeon]

let's see here, voboril-sandusky, alleged financial improprieties-child rapist...i'll give you a do-over

[augoman]

tend to agree with spaniel.  Hank was like a father to most of the players.  Great guys can be dishonest too.  Glad MU was magnanimous in awarding the rings.  Hope he can somehow be innocent but few facts we have are damning.

[keefe]

Keefe, not like you to convict on a newspaper article.

I agree it does not look good, but let's wait for the trial.

I'm not convicting him but the little empiricism we have is pretty awful. And there was enough discovered to lead his employer, a well respected MNC with sound business practices in place, to terminate his employment.

As a squadron commander I had a few guys standing in front of me in Article 15 hearings for popping positive for weed. To a man they all claimed innocence, blaming a faulty test. Fact is, there was nothing wrong with the kits, handling procedures, or lab results. I was far less concerned that they had smoked weed in the dorms at night. What I didn't like was the lying and blaming the integrity of an established Air Force process. They had betrayed the trust we had in them more in the lying than in the smoking.

NML became aware of questionable business practices so they investigated. I am confident that NML has world-class legal advice and they have superb ORM procedures in place. They concluded there was activity that might be illegal so they gave that to the DAs office. We'll see where this goes. 

[forgetful]

let's see here, voboril-sandusky, alleged financial improprieties-child rapist...i'll give you a do-over

No need for a do-over.  The point was that someone like Sandusky that was well respected can do something as terrible as being a child rapist.

So it should be no surprise if a equally respected person does something far less malicious.

It is a poor idea to assume that someones actions in public represent their true character.

[River rat]

Checks issued to one's self.  Not sure what else even matters.
Howver, there my be some heretofore never heard of before type of explanation for it.

[kylelylemustrong]

Take internal investigations with a grain of salt. Those "investigators" know that to make a name for yourself, you need to find wrongdoing by employees - the more spectacular the better for your career advancement.

Agreed... internal investigators will dig and dig until they find anything to go off of when they are asked by higher-ups so as not to look incompetent. Even if that means something weird on paper. Seen too many guys lose their jobs over stuff like this. There are 2 sides to every story and we are only hearing one (so far). Seems as though the real investigation took place after he was let go - assumptions were made - and the article fails to mention the history of the NML management who initiated this internal investigation and why they chose to do so in the first place. There may have been an underlying benefit for another employee to pass this speculative information along knowing it would look wrong i.e. the inheritance of a Book of Business, elimination of the the top performer, protection from a managing partner, etc. Again, those too are speculations I am making but seems to me like all the bandwagoners just want to jump on the media's agenda setting train once again. I prefer to explore the other side of the coin. The financial industry is a doggy dog world. Every man for himself. Like I said, not the first time this has been a problem. But a 22 year career - no complaints, and all of a sudden this oddly skewed article with a very small amount of information that took 6 months to uncover? Gimbel was quoted saying no money is missing, the individual he was POA for continued to receive his checks - the other account accrued more money - so what does this tell us? He was the POA, he had the right to move the funds to other investments if he thought it would be beneficial - but perhaps they were not moved and documented correctly in accordance with NML compliance regulations. A half year investigation later, no charges, no arrests, no other clients or people coming forward and this inflated article? All speculation. He may have made a mistake, but nobody got hurt. No money is missing. Doesn't sound like any crime took place here (Gimbel said the same). Let's be careful not to make too many hasty accusations, Vobs has a family. Let's just let the facts speak for themselves when it goes to court.

And now for overtime .. You've got to be kidding me MU.

[keefe]

Agreed... internal investigators will dig and dig until they find anything to go off of when they are asked by higher-ups so as not to look incompetent. Even if that means something weird on paper. Seen too many guys lose their jobs over compliance stuff like this.

One of my hats at a GE financial services business in Japan was Chief Compliance Officer. I can assure you that compliance investigations do not have an agenda. Your suggestion is naïve if not ludicrous.

[Dawson Rental]

Hey, I never missed a game during those years, can I be listed as former player?

No, just as a current playa.

[River rat]

One of my hats at a GE financial services business in Japan was Chief Compliance Officer. I can assure you that compliance investigations do not have an agenda. Your suggestion is naïve if not ludicrous.

100% totally agree

[kylelylemustrong]

One of my hats at a GE financial services business in Japan was Chief Compliance Officer. I can assure you that compliance investigations do not have an agenda. Your suggestion is naïve if not ludicrous.

You misunderstood. Journalism and media absolutely do have an agenda. It's the reason reputations are tarnished and stereotypes are solidified. Internal investigations may not have an agenda intrinsically, but they can be fueled by an individual who does.

[Dawson Rental]

Agreed... internal investigators will dig and dig until they find anything to go off of when they are asked by higher-ups so as not to look incompetent. Even if that means something weird on paper. Seen too many guys lose their jobs over stuff like this. There are 2 sides to every story and we are only hearing one (so far). Seems as though the real investigation took place after he was let go - assumptions were made - and the article fails to mention the history of the NML management who initiated this internal investigation and why they chose to do so in the first place. There may have been an underlying benefit for another employee to pass this speculative information along knowing it would look wrong i.e. the inheritance of a Book of Business, elimination of the the top performer, protection from a managing partner, etc. Again, those too are speculations I am making but seems to me like all the bandwagoners just want to jump on the media's agenda setting train once again. I prefer to explore the other side of the coin. The financial industry is a doggy dog world. Every man for himself. Like I said, not the first time this has been a problem. But a 22 year career - no complaints, and all of a sudden this oddly skewed article with a very small amount of information that took 6 months to uncover? Gimbel was quoted saying no money is missing, the individual he was POA for continued to receive his checks - the other account accrued more money - so what does this tell us? He was the POA, he had the right to move the funds to other investments if he thought it would be beneficial - but perhaps they were not moved and documented correctly in accordance with NML compliance regulations. A half year investigation later, no charges, no arrests, no other clients or people coming forward and this inflated article? All speculation. He may have made a mistake, but nobody got hurt. No money is missing. Doesn't sound like any crime took place here (Gimbel said the same). Let's be careful not to make too many hasty accusations, Vobs has a family. Let's just let the facts speak for themselves when it goes to court.

And now for overtime .. You've got to be kidding me MU.

Regarding Vorbs' honesty, it's interesting to revisit how this thread got started.

You do realize that Gimbel is Vorbs' defense attorney, I assume.

A district attorney's office investigator swore out an affidavit which says:
"In 2009, 2010 and 2011, Voboril issued checks from a trust account for $50,000, $52,000 and $50,000 payable to himself. They were all deposited in Voboril's personal bank account. The beneficiary of the trust, which had $247,000 in 2007, continued to get monthly checks for $1,100 and was unaware of Voboril's withdrawals."

The beneficiary of the trust, ....was unaware of Voboril's withdrawals.

Reading between the lines, particularly the claim that no client money is missing, it seems likely to me that this is a case of a trustee making "loans" to himself from a beneficiary's account without the beneficiary's knowledge.  I don't know Wisconsin law on trustees, but making withdrawals without a beneficiary's knowledge that go into a trustee's personal account, I believe is illegal in many states.  It is certainly a violation of a trustee's duty to make an "investment" to which the trustee is a party without at a minimum informing the beneficiary.  Self dealing is an issue anytime that the trustee is both the one in whom the investment is made as well as being the individual deciding on the appropriateness of the investment.  Did anything Vorbs' did constitute theft?  Even, if it did, will a district attorney prefer to plea bargain the incident down to something less?  If it's true no money is missing, does this investigation have much of a priority?  I don't know.  One question I do know the answer to; was a trustee's duty violated, hell yes!  If the beneficiary is a family member that doesn't affect any of the reasoning, it just serve to make the prosecution more problematic.

[The Lens]

My understanding, played on the freshman team.  Nothing more.

[keefe]

You misunderstood. Journalism and media absolutely do have an agenda. It's the reason reputations are tarnished and stereotypes are solidified. Internal investigations may not have an agenda intrinsically, but they can be fueled by an individual who does.

I didn't misunderstand.

BTW, why do you keep changing your user name?