Taking A Stand: Union Planters still keeps quiet
Before you ask, I don’t know what’s become of the rumored embezzlement case at Union Planters Bank since it appears to be a closely guarded secret, kept as mum as the location of the prize egg the local radio station used to hide around here.
Since the consensus is that our missing Dr. Kumar has now taken up residence somewhere in India, or perhaps even Florida, the big remaining mystery here is why there’s no news on the Union Planters deal. It’s been about two months since rumors started flying about an employee there being let go after irregularities were reportedly found. Since that time, barely a day has gone by that someone hasn’t stopped me on the street to see if I’ve heard anything on the case.
As it stands now, I know about as much about the case as I knew back then. Monday morning, the spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney General’s office called me back to report she had no record of any case regarding the name I gave her. Her call followed a telephone conversation I had with the head FBI agent for our section who also said he had no record of an investigation on the person I asked about. Add this to the fact local law enforcement says they have not been officially contacted by the bank, and you’ve got to wonder what’s going on over there. Hey, at least one local official said he’d be glad to prosecute it if the feds didn’t want it.
Some folks speculate the person will be allowed to pay the money back to avoid charges while other people tell me it’s just taking time to get all the records ready to turn over to investigators.
All I know is if someone robbed the bank for the kind of money I’m hearing was taken, the police would be contacted immediately. It doesn’t make sense why all the law enforcement agencies I’ve spoken to say they know nothing about this case a full two months after it happened.
While I’d like to know, as a reporter, what went on there, I’d also like to know as a longtime customer and I believe I’m not alone. Fellow customers who I’ve spoken to are a bit uneasy in that, this, if it in fact happened, would mark the third time in less than 10 years an employee has gotten in trouble there for taking money that wasn’t theirs.
This isn’t the old days of City Bank when we could just call over and have a sit down with the head man and find out what’s going on. The institution was sold a while back to a national banking chain so the ultimate decisions are being made somewhere else now. In other words, the buck stops somewhere other than Warren County now, so I can respect the bind local bank officials are in about releasing information.
In the old days it would have also been easier to get information from inside since I had numerous friends who worked there, being a former employee myself. However, in streamlining their operations, Union Planters has “downsized” dramatically. If you don’t believe me, just go down into the bowels of the main bank, which was once bustling with activity, or pull a present employee aside and ask them about the past purges there.
It would be easy enough to clear up. All the bank has to do is issue an official statement saying either nothing improper went on or that something did happen and tell us what specific steps they are taking to prosecute this individual. Don’t hand me another useless self-serving press release that says nothing and is insulting to my intelligence. If I wanted bologna I would have bought a pack of Oscar Meyer.
As a customer I have a right to know what’s going on at my financial institution and it’s apparent the public isn’t going to allow this to go away.
(Duane Sherrill is a reporter for the Standard. He can be reached at 473-2191 or by e-mail at [email protected].)