During the month of July, Priority One Credit Union's attorney filed yet another motion, this time contesting the reasons filed by Turner, Warren, Hwang, and Conrad seeking the dismissal of the credit union's counter-lawsuit.
The trial of the lawsuit filed by CUMIS, accusing Turner, Warren, Hwang, and Conrad of breaching its agreements with Priority One Credit Union during the years of 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013, has not yet begun. Presently, Turner, Warren, Hwang, and Conrad and Priority One Credit Union remain locked in litigation as Turner, Warren, Hwang and Conrad seeks dismissal of the counter-complaint filed by Priority One this past.
Additionally, the court has not yet made a decision regarding the motion filed by Priority One's attorney, John C. Steele, requesting consolidation of the lawsuits filed by CUMIS; Turner, Warren, Hwang and Conrad; and the cross-complaint filed by the credit union. In the meantime, the bankruptcy filing by former AVP, Lynnette Fortson, who is accused of stealing $1 million in cash from the vault of the Los Angeles branch, remains in review.
If litigation seems chaotic, it's because it is. Nowadays, Priority One is characterized more by its legal entanglements than for business. This change in standing began in the years following January 1, 2007, the date Charles R. Wiggington, Sr. began his appointment as President.
Despite the onslaught of lawsuits filed by and against the credit union, this past May, President Wiggington entered into yet another of his verbally and completely fictitious campaigns declaring that business is good and improving. The problem with the President's periodic proclamations is that they're never true and constitute pure conjecture. He could lend tremendous credibility to his statements if he would support them with actual documentation but he doesn't because these sporadic efforts to save face are untrue. Unfortunately, for the disastrous President, the credit union's quarterly Financial Performance Report ("FPR") and monthly income statements/Balance Sheets all omit anything that could be interpreted as a resurgence in business. What's more, as members and readers of this blog may have discovered, President Wiggington has yet to release copies of the 2014 annual report which for years, was distributed to attendees of the annual meeting conducted each May 27th at the South Pasadena branch. What's more, if you'll visit the credit union's website, you'll note that the President has not allowed publication of the report. HIs censorship and control of the credit union's reports suggest that President Wiggington has much to hide.
The President's efforts to paint a rosy picture of Priority One's financial standing and performance was aided during the month of May, when Robert West, the Director of Employee Services composed an online review praising HigherUp's, Rocket Solution. Rocket Solution is an analytical program. According to Mr. West, Rocket Solution has helped the Human Resources Department's refine its processes and extrapolates employee data which is analyzed and used to improve the credit union's bottom line. It is hardly coincidence that Mr. West's review comes at a time when the credit union is in desperate need for positive publicity though the Director's efforts are typically feeble, obvious and fail to deter attention away from the credit union's all too public reputation.
Before presenting excerpts from Mr. West's review, we'd like to revisit some past incidents involving Mr. West which attest to his character and validate whether or not Mr. West has ever contributed to improving the credit union's bottom line, promoted employee morale, or served to impel growth and development of new business.
The trial of the lawsuit filed by CUMIS, accusing Turner, Warren, Hwang, and Conrad of breaching its agreements with Priority One Credit Union during the years of 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013, has not yet begun. Presently, Turner, Warren, Hwang, and Conrad and Priority One Credit Union remain locked in litigation as Turner, Warren, Hwang and Conrad seeks dismissal of the counter-complaint filed by Priority One this past.
Additionally, the court has not yet made a decision regarding the motion filed by Priority One's attorney, John C. Steele, requesting consolidation of the lawsuits filed by CUMIS; Turner, Warren, Hwang and Conrad; and the cross-complaint filed by the credit union. In the meantime, the bankruptcy filing by former AVP, Lynnette Fortson, who is accused of stealing $1 million in cash from the vault of the Los Angeles branch, remains in review.
If litigation seems chaotic, it's because it is. Nowadays, Priority One is characterized more by its legal entanglements than for business. This change in standing began in the years following January 1, 2007, the date Charles R. Wiggington, Sr. began his appointment as President.
Despite the onslaught of lawsuits filed by and against the credit union, this past May, President Wiggington entered into yet another of his verbally and completely fictitious campaigns declaring that business is good and improving. The problem with the President's periodic proclamations is that they're never true and constitute pure conjecture. He could lend tremendous credibility to his statements if he would support them with actual documentation but he doesn't because these sporadic efforts to save face are untrue. Unfortunately, for the disastrous President, the credit union's quarterly Financial Performance Report ("FPR") and monthly income statements/Balance Sheets all omit anything that could be interpreted as a resurgence in business. What's more, as members and readers of this blog may have discovered, President Wiggington has yet to release copies of the 2014 annual report which for years, was distributed to attendees of the annual meeting conducted each May 27th at the South Pasadena branch. What's more, if you'll visit the credit union's website, you'll note that the President has not allowed publication of the report. HIs censorship and control of the credit union's reports suggest that President Wiggington has much to hide.
The President's efforts to paint a rosy picture of Priority One's financial standing and performance was aided during the month of May, when Robert West, the Director of Employee Services composed an online review praising HigherUp's, Rocket Solution. Rocket Solution is an analytical program. According to Mr. West, Rocket Solution has helped the Human Resources Department's refine its processes and extrapolates employee data which is analyzed and used to improve the credit union's bottom line. It is hardly coincidence that Mr. West's review comes at a time when the credit union is in desperate need for positive publicity though the Director's efforts are typically feeble, obvious and fail to deter attention away from the credit union's all too public reputation.
Before presenting excerpts from Mr. West's review, we'd like to revisit some past incidents involving Mr. West which attest to his character and validate whether or not Mr. West has ever contributed to improving the credit union's bottom line, promoted employee morale, or served to impel growth and development of new business.
Over the years, some of our posts have elicited negative comments about Robert West. The Director of Employee Services has been a staple of the credit union for several years though his greatest promotions came via his friend, President Wiggington. In the years before January 1, 2007, the date Charles R. Wiggington, Sr. was appointed President, Mr. West served as the credit union's sole Trainer and later, under President Wiggington, as Manager of Training and Education. Prior to 2007, he would periodically describe Priority One as a place where "the devil lives." A rather harsh and judgmental declaration by an officer of the credit union.
In 2006, he spent months writing a self-help book which was not related in anyway to his position as Trainer though he worked on the book during business hours. In 2006 and again in 2007, he was periodically seen by employees and officers, sleeping at his desk. You can read more about some of Mr. West's other antics at Robert West.
In 2006, he spent months writing a self-help book which was not related in anyway to his position as Trainer though he worked on the book during business hours. In 2006 and again in 2007, he was periodically seen by employees and officers, sleeping at his desk. You can read more about some of Mr. West's other antics at Robert West.
In 2009, President Wiggington asked that Mr. West rewrite the credit union's mission statement. The President stated that the statement composed under his predecessor failed to express his vision for the credit union and its relationship to its members. In 2009, Mr. West's revamped statement was unveiled during the May 2009 Annual Meeting conducted in Pasadena, California. The statement, shown below, was copied from the credit union's Facebook page.
Our mission: "To help our member-owners and employees achieve financial fitness. We are committed to providing quality products and services that help you win with money."
Source: Priority One Facebook
We must point out that the Mission Statement published in 2009, differed slightly from the its current version and included language which promised to show members and employees how to "win with money." Branch closures, a decline in the amount of net income, and a 5-year wage freeze prompted President Wiggington to amend the statement in early 2014.
FOOT IN MOUTH
Though President Wiggington's failures, abuses and violations of state and federal laws are well documented, he has always found an avid and unwavering supporter in Mr. West. As we've reported in 2010, during all-staff meeting conducted at Almansor Court in Alhambra, California, Mr. West stood before a room full of employees and chastised the President's critics, labeling them "haters". During his chastisement, he attempted to elicit pangs of guilt from targeted employees by reading the following verse:
Not surprisingly, his manipulation of Biblical scripture back-fired and served to increase dissension between staff and management. Though he had hoped to subjugate employees using amateur manipulative tactics, following the meeting, most of his audience exclaimed that they did not know what the verse he read meant while others admitted to listening to his spiel.
2008
In 2008, a member visited the credit union, leaving a baby she was taking care of, locked in her car in the visitor parking lot located at the South Pasadena branch. Though she was advised by employees that the baby was crying the member replied that she would return to her car in a few minutes. Because President Wiggington was away from the branch for the day and because Rodger Smock could not be located, an employee informed Mr. West that a baby had been left locked in a car. He immediately ordered that the police be called. Police arrived and arrested the member while firemen extricated the baby from the automobile.
The following day, upon being advised of the incident. President Wiggington exploded demanding the names of the employees who called the police. When told that they obtained from Mr. West to call the police, the President threatened each employee with termination should they ever choose to report a member to the police. Mr. West denied ever having instructed the employees to call the police.
2010
In August 2010, then COO, Beatrice Walker, took control over Human Resources. At the time, she revealed she intended to force aged Executive Vice President, Rodger Smock, into retirement because in her opinion, he was "lazy" and "overpaid". She also disclosed she intended to terminate Robert West who she described both "unnecessary", "overpaid" and ineffective as a trainer.
Because much of his power had been transferred to Ms. Walker by Board Chair, Diedra Harris-Brooks, President Wiggington panicked because he knew he would be unable to retain the employment of either Mr. Smock or Mr. West who were the only two ethically pliable supporters of his regime. However, Ms. Walker's plans were derailed when the then Valencia Branch Manager visited the South Pasadena branch and filed a verbal complaint with Esmeralda Sandoval, alleging that Ms. Walker had:
- Estranged the Branch Manager from her staff and other Branch Managers
- Sexually harassed and stalked her
- Created a hostile working environment; and
- Subjected the Branch Managers to different standards than those set for other managers
In September 2010, the President and Mr. Smock drove to the Valencia branch to inform the Manager that her branch was scheduled to close at the end of October 2010. After advising her of the impending closure, he asked her to elaborate on her complaint against Ms. Walker. At the end of the meeting, he turned to Mr. Smock and said he was going to remove Ms. Walker from oversight of the Human Resources Department. President Wiggington also informed the Branch Manager that he would offer her a post as Assistant Branch Manager at the Burbank office though her salary would be reduced "slightly."
Three days later, the president issued a notice on the credit union's Intranet announcing that Robert West would not serve as Director over Human Resources despite the conspicuous fact Mr. West was wholly unqualified to head the department. The reason why Mr. West was placed over Human Resources is quite absurd. At the time, Rodger Smock, the Director informed the President that he did not want any involvement in the Valencia Branch Manager's complaint. He felt that his involvement could provoke Ms. Walker who he knew was planning to terminate him.
Mr. West was appointed Director and given the responsibility to handle the complaint against Ms. Walker. Mr. West's ineptitude was quickly revealed because he continually had to confer with Mr. Smock to learn how to proceed with the complaint.
At the end of September 2010, the Branch Manager was called on her credit union cell phone by then Human Resources "clerk", Esmeralda Sandoval and advised that she had eight (8) hours in which to either accept the credit union's offer to work in the Burbank office in the capacity of Assistant Branch Manager or accept the credit union's severance package. At the end of the day, the Branch Manger called Ms. Sandoval and told her she would accept the severance package. Ms. Sandoval informed the Branch Manager that the credit union would require a letter stating her decision. The Manager submitted a letter to Ms. Sandoval, via email. The letter disclosed that she would accept the severance package and that her final date of employment would be October 31, 2010.
Several days later, Ms. Sandoval called the Branch Manager and informed her that she would have to work until November 15, 2010, to be eligible for the severance package. The Branch Manager reminded Ms. Sandoval that she had never stated that her final day of work would be November 15, 2015. Ms. Sandoval at first lied and said she had provided the Branch Manager with the date, however, Ms. Sandoval's dishonesty was proven when the emails sent to the Branch Manager regarding the matter all omitted a required last day of employment. The Branch Manager was afterwards contacted by Robert West who told her she must either work until November 15, 2010 or forfeit her severance package. The Branch Manager responded by sending Mr. West the following letter:
Mr. West conferred with the President and Ms. Walker, who in turn contacted Board Chair, Diedra Harris-Brooks. Mrs. Brooks contacted the credit union attorney and it was decided that credit union due to its own negligence, must provide the Branch Manager with the severance package that had been offered by the careless, Esmeralda Sandoval. Following the decision to reinstate the offer, Mr. West returned to his role as trainer and Mr. Smock resumed his capacity as Director over Human Resources.
Mr. West Writes a Review
Clearly Priority One is not providing member's convenience, efficiency or financial services that are so affordable that they did not entice approximately 4,000 members to retain membership.
Now as you read Mr. West's review, not that he fails to draw a correlation of how HigherUp's Rocket Solution will provide Priority One's Human Resources Department "new business insights. The fact that Human Resources is now allegedly "working faster and more strategically to improve the company's bottom line" is unaccompanied by actual evidence, like the credit union's own reports proving that Priority One's bottom line has been improved.
Mr. West's review is permeated by a whining tone, describing his personal frustrations as he tried to juggle the use of three different programs with each requiring the use of its own password. We certainly feel for Mr. West and the terrible plight he must have undergone. We'd like to address some of the statements contained in his review.
- On January 1, 2007, Priority One's membership approximated 30,000. Eight years after Charles R. Wiggington, Sr. was appointed President, membership has dropped to approximately 26,000. That's a loss of 4,000 members over an 8 year period.
- Prior to January 1, 2007, the date Charles R. Wiggington, Sr. became President, the credit union employed more than 150 full-time employees and only periodically hired temporary staff.
- Prior to January 1, 2007, Priority One the following branches:
Los Angeles
Van Nuys Branch
Valencia Branch
South Pasadena Branch
Redlands Branch
Riverside Branch
On the day Charles R. Wiggington began serving as President, the Marina Del Rey branch had already closed because the postal service intended to use the space occupied by that office. Other branch closures and openings, ordered by President Wiggington include:
Valencia Branch closes October 2010
Riverside Branch closes April 2011
Santa Clarita Branch opens February 2012
Airport Branch closes December 2013
Santa Clarita branch closes January 2014.
From an economic and budgetary point-of-view, Priority One's opening and closing of branches over the last eight years constitutes poor, actually, horrendous planning and was both fiscally irresponsible and detrimental to the credit union's bottom line.
If the implementation of HigherUp's analytical program is intended to improve Priority One's bottom-line than one has to ask why was Priority One's net income increasing annually under President Wiggington's predecessor and why has it dropped by more than $18 million since January 1, 2007, the date Charles R. Wiggington, Sr. began serving as President?
We extracted the following information from NCUA.org:
We extracted the following information from NCUA.org:
The current Board of Directors along with President Wiggington have proven they possess an undisciplined proclivity for spending and wasting credit union funds. This is partially attested to by the fact that currently, Human Resources employs three officers when prior to January 1, 2007, the department was wholly under management of then Vice President of Human Resources, Rodger Smock. Nowadays, the small and insignificant credit union is staffed by Mr. Smock, Mr. West and Employee Services Manager, Esmeralda Sandoval.
According to Mr. West, he was "frustrated with our old systems, which were time-consuming and difficult to manage. To get to even the most basic employee information, I had to access three different vendors’ systems with multiple passwords and complex authentication. And none of the systems could talk to each other. If I wanted to access and combine data from our different payroll, benefits, applicant tracking, and time and attendance systems – I was out of luck.”
Of course Mr. West was frustrated. . He holds a position which he is ill qualified to serve in. In 2011, he was appointed to serve as Director of Human Resources without possessing any experience, an education, or skills in anything related to Human Resources. His appointment was not motivated by either his qualifications or need. Mr. West was appointed as a result of cronyism. It is his "friendship" and blind loyalty to the President that has secured his continued employment. He is clearly dispensable and wholly unnecessary to the credit union's deteriorating infrastructure.
Apparently, the "Director" of Employee Services is easily frustrated. It is not uncommon for employees of many companies to use more than one program to process their work and certainly having to use more than one password is neither challenging or frustrating unless of course, you're Mr. West. We also don't understand how Human Resources, a department staffed by three officers, can't seem to handle managing Priority One's three remaining branches and a staff which Mr. West wrote, employs 50 full-time employees and 14 part-time employees What would Mr. West have done had he worked in the department prior to January 1, 2007, when the credit union had many branches and employed more than 150 full-time employees. Maybe the problem is that Robert West doesn't possess the skills needed to multi-task or he lacks the ability to expertly prioritize.
THE TRIAL THAT WOULDN'T START
During the month of June, Priority One's attorney, John C. Steele, filed a motion refuting Turner, Warren, Hwang, and Conrad's reasons asking the court to dismiss Priority One's counter-lawsuit against their former external auditor.
The long list of pre-trial conferences clearly indicates that Priority One's legal expenses in 2015, must be astronomical adding to the more than $500,000 spent on litigation during the years of 2010-2013. Nowadays, Priority One is defined by its unending legal problems.
We're recently wondered about the abilities of CUMIS' officers to make sound decisions as their alliance to Priority One Credit Union is not only illogical, it seems a horrendous business decision and gamble. That said, last month one of our readers posted the following comment which aptly and in great detail, describes the reason why CUMIS may be suing Turner, Warren, Hwang, and Conrad and what may occur should CUMIS lose its lawsuit:
June 24, 2005
Look ... I don't see Wiggington lasting 12 months.
Some points & issues to clarify. CUMIS (the insurance & bonding company) paid the claim for dishonesty... that's the insurance they provide. For paying the claim, the CU gives the bonding company the 'right of subrogation' .... this means it gives the insurance company the right to go after the individual(s) that were responsible for the loss.
By extension, the insurance company is trying to minimize its losses by looking at other potential sources for getting their money back. Assuming the responsible person(s) do not have $1,000,000 anymore they will simultaneously look elsewhere.
So, they are looking for 'Big Pockets'....one of which is TWHC CPA firm. The Board & Wiggington were pointing their fingers at TWHC for not discovering the defalcation and the 'embezzler'for dishonesty.
In reality they should being pointing at themselves in the mirror. They are the problem.
It's going to get real messy when public filings start coming through.
In addition, it is very possible that Wiggington will then be placed on CUMIS' "BLACK LIST" of non-insurable risks. Each employee or official of a federally insured financial institution has to be "bondable". Wiggington's record will become more public and other policyholders (credit unions) will see the risk that the insurance company is continuing to insure.....they are the ones paying Wiggington's claims.... they will want that to cease.
Wiggington will get the dreaded letter & phone call in the next year, for sure & he's gone. A week or two before official notification to Wiggy, the Feds and State Examiners will all converge on the credit union ..... don't you think they will count every penny?
CUMIS provided a report in which their "expert" asserts that Turner, Warren, Hwang and Conrad have failed to adhere to established auditing practices in the years 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013. It appears, CUMIS is attempting to strengthen its position buy inducting the participation of the credit union whose counter-lawsuit will serve to further impugn Turner, Warren, Hwang, and Conrad's public reputation and abilities. What is interesting is that without the findings of CUMIS' expert, Priority One may never have realized that their former external auditor had allegedly violated auditing practices. As usual, the bad folks at Priority One Credit Union seemed oblivious of the integrity of work being performed by their external auditor. It's this same lackadaisical problem that may have resulted in the theft of more than $60,000 in 2009, perpetrated by a former receptionist; and the 2010-2012 thefts totaling more than $1 million in cash, allegedly absconded by a now former AVP. Something is sorely amiss at Priority One. Its Supervisory Committee have proven themselves incapable of protecting credit union assets. The President and the people who oversaw operations* during the years of 2009 through 2012 have evidently failed to ensure the protection of Priority One's assets and have proven quite incapable of protecting Member funds.
*2007-June 2009: Operations was managed by EVP, Rodger Smock
June 2009-July 2011: Operations was overseen by COO, Beatrice Walker
July 2011-December 2012: Operations was overseen by CLO, Cindy Garvin
January 2013-Present: Yvonne Boutte currently serves as VP of Operations
In David Morrison's article, "$1M Vault Pinch Hits Priority One" which appeared in the March 07, 2015 publication of the CU Times, the author states that in their lawsuit, CUMIS accuses Turner, Warren, Hwang and Conrad of negligence in auditing the credit union's financial records and that they "should have known that [Lynette] Fortson [the AVP] was employed at the Los Angeles County Branch and that one of her duties was to perform reconciliation for that branch." CUMIS also told the reporter that Turner, Warren, Hwang and Conrad "had never opened the vault, counted the vault cash, reconciled the counted vault cash to the general ledger account or reviewed the balancing sheets prepared by Fortson during the course of their reconciliation of cash accounts" and if they had, Turner, Warren, Hwang and Conrad would have discovered the "fraud and embezzlement scheme."
We recently spoke to a former officer of the credit union who informed us that in the years before Charles R. Wiggington, Sr. was appointed President, the Supervisory Committee regularly visited branches to count vault cash. The end of this practice by the Supervisory Committee seems part of a common phenomena occurring at the credit union. In 2007, Charles R. Wiggington, Sr., refused to review a batch of sample ballots which if he had, he might have noticed that member social security and account numbers were printed on the front exterior side of the the envelopes. At the time, he refused to review these because in his words, "I'm President, I don't do that!" The fact that in 2009, the credit union employed an internal auditor and COO proved insufficient to discover that a receptionist was pillaging funds from member accounts.
Due to the length of Attorney John C. Steele's response, we are only publishing the more relevant points of his rebuttal.
This is the first reference in the long record of documents filed with Superior Court that finally provide more specific detail about the thefts which occurred at the Los Angeles branch during the years of 2010 through 2012. As we've disclosed in previous posts, CUMIS has stated in its initial filing that the thefts began either in "early" or "late" 2010. We find it odd that following an extensive investigation by its "experts" that they could not pin point a more specific or actual date when the internal robberies began prompting us to wonder if the amount of thefts exceed the $1,005,000 CUMIS concludes was stolen. More importantly, did the robberies begin prior to 2010 and possibly on a date before Turner, Warren, Hwang and Conrad were hired.
In 2009, Turner, Warren, Hwang and Conrad were hired to conduct an extensive audit of the Los Angeles branch's records. At the time, the audit was reported after a member complained that money had been taken from her more than $11,000 IRA leaving a balance of less than $5,000. The audit proved that more than $60,000 were embezzled by a former receptionist who pillaged member accounts and with the assistance of friends and family, withdrew embezzled funds from an ATM located in the city of Long Beach, California. During the audit, then AVP, Lynnette Fortson sat alongside Terry Nabors, the auditor from Turner, Warren, Hwang and Conrad. She remained in the office with him for the three weeks during which he audited her office's records. President Wiggington was well aware that she forced her inclusion in the audit but was apparently unconcerned by its inappropriateness. Why would the AVP deem it necessary to sit alongside the auditor if she, herself, was not auditing records? We are suspicious of her motivation for remaining in the office with Mr. Nabors during the three weeks in which he reviewed records.
Attorney Steele states that on December 5, 2014, Turner, Warren, Hwang and Conrad sued Priority One's refusal to pay the outstanding balance of $68,299.79 due for the report created by Turner, Warren, Hwang and Conrad from their March 2013 investigation of the Los Angeles branch's records.
The cross-complaint filed by Priority One Credit Union not only contests payment of the unpaid balance which Attorney Steele has described as "ridiculous" but sues Turner, Warren, Hwang and Conrad for providing inaccurate reports to the credit union for the years of 2008 through 2013. It should be deemed nothing less than outstanding and in Mr. Steele's words, "ridiculous", that Priority One Credit Union never realized that the reports provided to it by Turner, Warren, Hwang, and Conrad were inaccurate and produced out-of-compliance with established auditing protocols.
Furthermore, Attorney Steele states that Priority One was unaware of the alleged negligence committed by Turner, Warren, Hwang and Conrad until April 24, 2015, when they received a report produced by CUMIS' "expert" and which asserted numerous alleged violations committed by the credit union's external auditor.
Again, Turner, Warren, Hwang and Conrad are innocent until proven guilty. Subsequently, Mr. Steele's statement that the external auditor "failed to comply with the terms of its contracts for years" constitutes a mere allegation.
Attorney Steele, declares that Turner, Warren, Hwang, and Conrad's lawsuit against Priority One for its failure to pay $68,299.76 due the external auditor failed to "acknowledge" or mention, that it served as Priority One's external auditor from 2008 through 2013, during which it provided year-end audits. If Attorney Steele is inferring that Turner., Warren, Hwang and Conrad purposely avoided disclosing this fact, it seems irrelevant since they are demanding payment from the credit union for services rendered in March 2013 and no other year.
Attorney Steele continues, stating that The $168,299.79 initially charged by Turner, Warren, Hwang and Conrad is nothing less than "ridiculous"? Is there any documented evidence showing that Priority One contested the charge in 2013, 2014 or at the start of 2015? Evidently, Priority One did not find the charge ridiculous, otherwise why did they pay $100,000 of the total amount due to Turner, Warren, Hwang and Conrad.
Attorney Steele admits in his filing that Priority One was ignorant of the alleged violations committed by Turner, Warren, Hwang and Conrad until on or about April 24, 2015 when they received a report provided to them by CUMIS' "expert" whose investigation showed that the report produced from the external auditor's February 2013, investigation was so poorly written that it had to be rewritten by attorneys so it could be submitted to CUMIS along with Priority One's claim for $1 million.
What seems odd is that during the 26 months which transpired between February 2013, the month when Turner, Warren, Hwang and Conrad conducted its audit; and April 24, 2015, the date when the credit union received CUMIS' report documenting the allegations against the external auditor, that Priority One's President, its Board of Directors, and its Supervisory Committee never realized that Turner, Warren, Hwang, and Conrad allegedly provided inaccurate end-of-year reports for 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and for the report provided in 2013. So when is Priority One held responsible to ensuring that information they receive is verified to be correct? And why didn't Priority One ever realize that any of the numerous reports provided to them by their external auditor contained erroneous information?
And why did Priority One refuse to pay the outstanding balance due to Turner, Warren, Hwang, and Conrad in 2013, 2014, and part of 2015 if they didn't know about the external auditor's alleged violations until April 24, 2015? Could it be that Priority One refused to pay the bill because they are unable to? In 2010, now former CFO, Saed Raad, instructed his staff in the Accounting Department not to pay vendor bills for at least 3 to 4 weeks after these are received. Priority One is a credit union whose coffers have been heavily taxed by expenditures that are unrelated to business including more than $500,000 spent on legal fees during the years of 2010 through 2014.
Mr. Steele places entire blame on the external auditor because of their failure to perform audits compliant to its contracted obligations but the fact remains that no one at the credit union- not the self-proclaimed financially savvy President, the Board of Directors or the Supervisory Committee ever took note that any of the end-of-year reports provided to them contained egregious violations of the agreements ratified between the external auditor and the credit union. So when is Priority One deemed responsible for the years of failures committed by its President and two governing bodies?
Attorney Steele's argument is that Turner, Warren, Hwang and Conrad's did not perform annual audits commensurate with the terms of the agreements entered into with the credit union. He alleges that as a result of this, Priority One was forced to rehire Turner, Warren, Hwang, and Conrad who conducted an investigation of the Los Angeles branch's records in March of 2013.
Attorney Steele's key points in his conclusion are:
- Turner, Warren, Hwang and Conrad failed to adhere to the terms of their agreement entered into with Priority One Credit Union
- He accuses Turner, Warren, Hwang and Conrad of filing a motion whose focus is the date when the embezzlement took place
- Turner, Warren, Hwang and Conrad allegedly breached their agreements and provided inaccurate reports to the credit union in the years 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013.
- Turner, Warren, Hwang and Conrad "actively concealed its breach of contract"; and
- As a result of their alleged concealment, Priority One could not have known prior to April 2015, that Turner, Warren, Hwang and Conrad had violated its agreements with the credit union
Attorney Steele will have to prove that Turner, Warren, Hwang and Conrad purposely concealed the breaches they are how accused of committing. He is accusing the external auditor of knowingly if not intentionally, violating its agreements entered into with Priority One in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013. Are we then to believe that Turner, Warren, Hwang and Conrad, a company with an impressive portfolio of credit union industry clients. would single out Priority One, a credit union with a horrendous public reputation and led by a President whose horrendous performance is marred by numerous failures, abuses of authority, egregious violations of state and federal laws, and last but not least, a well documented record of numerous security breaches of which the $1 million theft is but one?
The fact is, under Charles R. Wiggington, Sr., internal thievery on a massive scale has become common place at Priority One Credit Union. So how did one AVP enter the Los Angeles branch vault, unaccompanied and in defiance
to double-custody and in violation of the credit union’s security protocols and
over a 24-month period, steal more than $1 million? It’s mind-boggling.
CONCLUSION
There isn't any evidence presented by either side that might allow us to guess who could potentially win their lawsuit. CUMIS hopes the court will find Turner, Warren, Hwang, and Conrad guilty of violating it's agreements with Priority One and of conducting audits that proved subpar and out of compliance with standard auditing procedures. They are also requesting the court order Turner, Warren, Hwang and Conrad to pay $1 million plus any other fees the court deems appropriate.
What CUMIS and the credit union are not alluding to in their complaints is that during the thefts occurred, Priority One had a President, a Board of Directors, a Supervisory Committee, an Accounting Department and three different offices who oversaw operations, yet inexplicably all failed to realize cash was being taken from the vault of the Los Angeles branch.
CUMIS and Priority One make reference to Lynnette Fortson, the former AVP accused of embezzling $1 million in cash but we've yet to discover how she was able to enter a branch vault by herself and in defiance of credit union banking policy which stipulates double-custody when entering the vault; and how she was able to walk out with $1 million in cash over an approximate 24-month period. The fact she succeeded in perpetrating embezzlement on such a grand scale points to failure on the part of the credit union and its alleged security protocols designed to protect credit union assets. No matter how much CUMIS may wish to hold Turner, Warren, Hwang and Conrad accountable for the theft of $1 million, the fact is, the external auditor had no involvement in the physical removal of cash.
Priority One should be held accountable for failing to detect any of the thefts. Based on their attorney's disclosures, Priority One relied solely on a single year-end report provided by Turner, Warren, Hwang and Conrad to assess the effectiveness of its own security. Apparently, Priority One never verified the evidence used by the external auditor to arrive at the conclusions contained in their reports for the years 2008 through 2012.
Over the past 8-years, the credit union's Supervisory Committee has remained unusually quiet though each year, Supervisory Committee Chair, Cornelia Simmons signs a mundane address written by Rodger Smock and published in the annual report, which repetitiously assures readers that the committee has determined that Priority One is in compliance to all applicable laws and that in her committee's opinion, all is well. In retrospect, since 2009 Ms. Simmons' statements have been proven to be untrue. Ms. Simmons' 2009 address assured readers that the credit union was operating safely yet in that same year, a receptionist absconded with more than $60,000 from the Los Angeles branch. The credit union's current defense indicates that the Supervisory Committee is trying to divert attention away from themselves and placing the entire records of thefts during the period of 2010 through 2012, on Turner, Warren, Hwang and Conrad.
In another matter, in 2014 President Wiggington ordered omission of all references to legal expenses from the credit union's monthly income statement. In 2015, he's ordered that the credit union's 2014 Annual Report not be distributed. His actions suggest he is trying to hide those records that serve to prove Priority One's actual performance versus the tales he loves to tell that allude to non-existent success. Periodically, officers like Robert West try and deter attention away from the credit union's awful public reputation, legal problems, and chronic internal issues. Mr. West's efforts always fail to allay attention from the well-documented fact that since Charles R. Wiggington, Sr. became President, business remains in decline and that lawsuits have been filed each year since 2010, against the once respected credit union.
In the meantime, we will have to await the results of a trial which will hopefully and finally bring to light the gross incompetence of Priority One's worst and most embarrassing President. For those who are interested, the trial between CUMIS and Turner, Warren, Hwang, and Conrad; and if approved, Priority One's cross-complaint, is slated to take place at Superior Court in Los Angeles on August 24, 2015.
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272 comments:
1 – 200 of 272 Newer› Newest»What a mess! This was all probably avoidable had Wiggington done what he's supposed to do, but since day one, he thought he'd sit back and enjoy his new title, collect a check and have everybody else doing his job. As Dr. Phil would ask, "How is that working for you, dumbass?" I add dumbass because its completely appropriate when speaking about Wiggington. No doubt, security or the lack of security is a problem at Priority One. Wiggington either is ignorant of how to make sure security measures are taken by all personnel in all offices or he doesn't care. In 2007, he refused to review ballots and what do you know, they were mailed out with member account numbers printed on the outside. I remember he was panicked and he needed to look for someone to take the fall for what he did. The ignorant and useless board, believed him and they took out their wrath on an innocent person who Wiggington sacrificed so he could escape blame for what he alone did. You've got to wonder why the biggest amounts of money have been taken by employees of the Los Angeles branch. There is something wrong at that facility but Wiggington is too dumb to have ever taken notice. So now as a result of his negligence, Priority One is again involved in expensive litigation. This man has cost the credit union astronomical losses but the almost all Black board and all black supervisory committee keep and even protect him.
I agree, Wiggles needs to resign and accept one of the many great job offers he's getting from other credit unions. Its about time he moved on and ruined some other credit union. And by all means, he should go and work at another troubled credit union and prove that he can turn them around. After all, he as a BA in Afro-American studies that should aid his efforts. Of course that still leaves one wondering why he couldn't turn Priority One around when all of its problems were created by him. He is now quite popular, I mean infamous. I'm sure th4ire are lots of credit unions fighting to bring him on board.
As the Committee for Vindication said there are many large and many troubled credit unions in fierce bidding wars trying there best to hire turnaround specialist Wiggy away from Priority One. But Wiggy is so darn loyal to Diedra he just hasn't been able to take one step f those lucrative offers.
Is there anything we can do to get Wiggy to leave?
I can see why other credit unions are clamoring to hire Wiggy. It's not often such an impressive trifecta of a sexual harasser, thief and incompetent dumbass can be found in one applicant. Yes Wiggy is the whole package. I'm certain he'll be scooped up soon by a troubled credit union.
LOL. I never thought of it from the perspective but Wiggles is the total package.
PS: Robert West is another Priority One Rhodes Scholar and what an accomplished writer.
I used to wonder why Wigg left the banking industry. He worked for several savings and loans that all went under or got absorbed by other businesses. He used to brag about his big plans to make priority one resemble a bank though it resembles more of a lemonade stand. He worked for B of A but left it to come to P1. If I recall, he got a better title in the credit union industry but retained his bank attitude which proved to be fatal for Priority One. I don't know who interviewed him though I don't think he got hired by Mr Harris but obviously he conned his way through the interview because it is almost unimaginable that anyone would ever hire a clown like Wigg. Wigg the clown.
I am sure that there are credit unions in outer Mongolia, Death Valley, Siberia, the deep Congo and in the South Pole that are dying to have Wiggles joint their team.
You forgot to include any credit unions at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.
Let's say CUMIS proves that TWHC's audits did violate accounting standards and that if done correctly, they would have realized thefts were occurring at the Los Angeles branch, that doesn't mean that TWHC are responsible for $1 million being stolen.
The thefts were physical and supposedly committed by the AVP. The credit union has security procedures designed to identify when thefts are occurring but more importantly, the procedures should be designed to STOP a theft from ever occurring.
So should TWHC have to pay $1 million for not adhering to standard auditing procedures?
TWHC are a well-known and reputable CPA firm in the CU industry. Why wold they single out Priority One and choose not to correctly review records at all 3 branches? It seems preposterous that they could single out Priority One.
And it does look like Priority One never found anything wrong with the money they were charged by TWHC because they paid $100,000 of their total bill. If they really believed they were over charged by TWHC then why didn't they sue the accounting firm for overcharging for their services?
Instead, Priority One refuses to pay, probably because they couldn't afford the balance. CUMIS came to the rescue and gave Priority One the reasons for their recent lawsuit against TWHC. So from 3/2013 to 4/2013 not one person at Priority One ever noticed any problems with TWHC's annual reports or with the more than $168,000 charged for the single 2013 report. There is something suspicious about the credit union's inability to detect the problems with TWHC's reports or why they never realized $1 million was stolen from the branch vault.
I think you meant 3/2010 to 4/2013, didn't you?
Though the robberies took place between 2010 and 2012 P1 never noticed anything wrong. Even in 2015 the only reason they're suing is because CUMIS brought it to their attention. So the big question is, what is wrong at P1 that the superviosry committee or board never discovered a single theft while they were happening or that Turner's audits were bad?
The whole thing is strange. During 2010-2012 Patti Loiacano was the VP of compliance. Then Charles moved her back to VP of lending even though in 2010 he removed her as VP of lending because he and Bea told us that state regulators said she couldn't over see lending and compliance because it was a conflict. So when she was doing compliance, did she make sure all branches were following policy? If Lynnette was entering the vault without a second person, how come that wasn't reported to Wiggington, Rodger or Patti? If it was reported, then why didn't any of them do anything about it? Something is wrong with the credit union's story.
There might be a logical reason why Wiggington, Loiacano, Walker, Garvin, Huffman, and the entire accounting department never noticed anything amiss at the Los Angeles office. Either:
1. They're all in a coma
2. They're all in suspended animation
3. Their brain dead
4. They fell into an alternate universe in 2010 and didn't return until 2015
5. They're liars.
My choice: they're liars, plain and simple.
I agree, liars but maybe a little of #3 and #4. You should have added #6- hit their heads on a hard surface.
You NEVER saw this nasty ghetto mess when Mr Harris was president. Of course the difference between him and Wiggles is that Mr Harris was a hard worker, he was cautious and he was a man. Wiggles is lazy, an opportunist, a liar and lazy. I forgot, useless and stupid.
I forgot, Wiggles isn't a man.
Its Diedra's fault the robberies took place. Her years of bending rules and letting Wiggington get away with breaking laws is what left the door wide open so someone like Lynnette could rob the credit union.
1. He should have been fired when the investigator proved Wiggington sexually harassed but instead, Diedra buries the evidence.
2. He should have been fired when he promoted Liz to AVP even though she was writing dozens of bad checks. An investigator proved she was actually kiting. And he should have been fired for reversing more than 30 of her NSF fees.
3. He should have been fired when he let all those ballot go out with member account and social security numbers printed on the outside.
4. He should have been fired when he stole a member's car using repossession procedures.
5. He should have been fired when his first COO, Beatrice Walker, sexually harassed another female.
6. He should have been fired when he covered up Diedra's spending abuses when she went to Vegas to attend a conference and then spent hours in the hotel bar spending the money the credit union gave her.
7. He should have been fired when he caused P1 to lose more than $20 million in net income.
8. He should of been fired for that house he lives.
YCorrection on #6 above:
6. He should have been fired when he covered up Diedra's spending abuses when she went to Vegas to attend a conference and then spent hours in the Hotel bar spending the CASINO CHIPS she INSISTED the credit union give her.
Diedra is the real CEO, not the Wigshyster.
I wonder how Diedra was able to attend classes in Las Vegas and spend so much money each day in the hotel bar? She may be the worst Board Chair in the entire credit union industry but she has this wonderful ability to ingest liquor, at least during the conference. Either that or she didn't attend classes. Which is it?
pretty sure Yvonne is getting fired this week.
Why would you think Yvonne is getting fired? Not that she shouldn't but its odd that they would make a decision to do it when they're in the middle of a lawsuit about operations.
The one that should be removed immediately is Diedra. She is the one that approved the squandering of credit union money, covered up his illegal acts and she's the one that approved the attack against employees. She's the main lawbreaker. Get rid of her and get a chair that cares about the credit union and who isn't at all influenced by skin color and you might actually begin to see improvements. Of course, if you get rid of her, you can probably drive out useless, corrupt, anti-White director, O.Glen Saffold and useless Richard Hale and dumb, Bobby Thomas. That would follow with firing Wiggington and not giving him the bonus he is contractually entitled to for remaining president for more than 5 years. They should get the membership to vote if they want to see him get the undeserved bonus.
After that, get rid of useless dinosaur, Rodger Smock, followed by terminating Esmeralda "Chola"Sandoval and Robert "Erkle" West.
Diedra has always tried to control everything at the credit union and both Rodger and Wiggles bent over to appease her. When Mr Harris left, she took over marketing as if she knows anything about marketing. Her resume says she handled retail at the post office but that still doesn't qualify her to demand that she be shown all advertising so she could approve or deny it. Rodger used to tell us that the board which is synonymous with Diedra, wanted to make sure minorities were well represented. Yes, Mr. White Bread rolls over like a dog when it comes to making sure that whatever the black board wants is what they get. But "minority" to the board means black not brown or yellow and let's face it, at Priority One the real minority are whites.
I was looking at their Facebook page photos and saw their Easter baskets. Its amazing how much the credit union has fallen. When I worked there, Mr. Harris would spend money buying quality items. Baskets and giveaways were never cheap. Looking at their baskets, I see lots of items from the 99 cent store. It looks like the baskets cost $10 to put together (including the cost of the basket). Wiggington was stupid when I worked there and 2 years later, he's stupider. Every credit union should be aware of costs but looking cheap has never helped any organization.
Aside from the quality of gifts they give away, they no longer can afford to purchase many free materials to give to potential members. They can't afford publishing nice looking annual reports. No more Xmas parties. No more free food on payday Fridays. They hold off paying their debts and processing employee reimbursement requests. No year-end bonus'. No raises. This is a no nothing, broke ass credit union tho Wiggington still likes to go around telling some employees that business is great!.
To Robert West:
What's wrong with you, boy? I just went online and read your review about Rocket solution. You realize you sound like a cry-baby, don't you? You wrote:
“I was frustrated with our old systems, which were time-consuming and difficult to manage."
Q: How much actual time were you spending on each "system" before you got Rocket? How much time did Rocket save?
"To get to even the most basic employee information, I had to access three different vendors’ systems with multiple passwords and complex authentication."
Q: On any given day, many people have to access more than one program/software/system using "multiple passwords"? It shouldn't take but second to access these if you enter the information correctly. And what do you mean by complex authentication? Usually, entering a login name and password are all the authentication you need. Were you asked to do something more extraordinary, like recite the Gettysburg address?
"If I wanted to access and combine data from our different payroll, benefits, applicant tracking, and time and attendance systems – I was out of luck.”
Q: Under what circumstances would you combine payroll with benefits? It seems like the things that are basic requirements in many positions are huge obstacles to you. You were never an interesting trainer and often, self-serving. So your gripes in your not very uninteresting review are characteristic of you.
the annual meeting was in May and still no report post, what is up with that ?did they think no know would notice! Why are the hidding the report?
Wiggington knows business is declining. He doesn't know how to sell products or get more membership but he knows how to reduce spending, cut down on the quality of service and maintain a staff that works without annual raises. If he was sane, he'd know that people notice he isn't posting the report but because he's delusional, he really believes that everything he does is good and that people won't notice what a liar he is. You can almost hear the looney tunes song playing whenever he walks by.
Poor West. So when he states that he experienced so much trouble about getting "basic" employee information what exactly is he talking about? Did he have trouble verifying the start date for an employee or the date of their birthday? Did he have trouble verifying their address or if they passed their probation period? I think lazy ass is just complaining because he prefer lying under a sycamore tree chewing on a blade of dry grass while watching the bull frog playing on the banks of the Mississippi.
A BIG part of why this is not longer a great credit union is because the so-called executives are lazy. Wiggington was lazy when he was VP of Operations. If you went to him with questions about anything related to operations, he would tell you to go and ask someone else. He would spend the day yakking on the phone on personal calls, walking around the office talking about how great he is in bed, and taking extended lunches. The board didn't care because his skin color was an important issue with most of them.
Rodger is useless and lazy. The man has Esmeralda to assist him and Robert West. He is a total waste and even horrible Bea Walker knew it. Not only that, he heads HR but he has broken policy over and over and over that's why it was easy for former employees to sue the credit union. Ask him to prove how he's helped the credit union become better.
Robert West or Black Rip Van Wrinkle is a straight, black version of Rodger Smock. He's 100% useless lazy and ask him to name one thing he has ever done that has made Priority One a better credit union.
Like Smock and West, Esmeralda Sandoval is exactly what you don't want in HR. She's a liar and manipulator. She's not very bright either though she did TRY to take some classes at University of Phonenix. What she shares with Wiggington, Smock and West is that she's also a backstabber.
Yvonne Boutte loves to create strife. She puts on that stupid smile but look at her eyes whenever you talk to her. They say more about what she is than anything else. She spent years with her former girl friend, Bea Walker, targeting people and bullying people. She's the reason they credit union got sued by a member and before you can ask, "How tall is Yvonne?", they settled the claim. She is the consummate unprofessional but the only reason some with her character would remained employed is because she will do anything Wiggington says and she's black.
Ask these people how they've contributed to the credit union. Wiggington will tell you he closed branches to increase profits. Huh???????? What he can't explain is why the CU was worth more than $172 million under Mr Harris and why it dropped to $146 million at one point (its about $154 million). He will also avoid answering any question that asks why the CU no longer has a presence in Riverside County or Santa Clarita. Yvonne and her side-kick, Alex Suarez, will tell you they brought down delinquencies but what these two morons won't tell you is that loan funding is way down and that to qualify for a loan is harder under Wiggington than under Mr Harris.
I don't understand the comment about Yvonne maybe getting fired. What's up with that?
The Committee For Vindication is proud to announce that President Charles Wiggington has been nominated to receive the prestigious Good Governance Award for outstanding service to the credit union industry. This meritorious annual award exemplifies the highest degree of self-sacrifice, superior results and integrity that can be bestowed on a credit union CEO.
Our Committee congratulates Priority One's President Wiggington in achieving this highest of honors.
While all the nominees are worthy of the Good Governance Award, the members of the Committee know, in our heart of hearts, our CEO is already a winner. We look forward to seeing our friend and mentor Charles Wiggington at the banquet.
Just checked the FPR Call Report and see that P1/Wiggy has not expensed any funds for the Provision for Loan Losses Expense for all of 2015 (6 months, so far). Wonder how long he can keep that smoke and mirrors trick going, especially since both delinquency and charge-offs are ticking upwards.
my bad Yvonne wasn't fired...she's on an indefinite leave of absence. anyone know why?
REWRITE
COMMITTEE OF VINDICATION
The Committee For Vindication is proud to announce that President Charles Wiggington has been nominated to receive the prestigious DUFAS Award for his disservice to the entire banking industry.
This is a low point for Priority One and though it should be utterly humiliating to President Wiggington aka Wig, Wiggles, Wigglenuts, etc., he is so glib, so out-of-touch with reality, so self-deluded that he'll actually distort its significance and try to spin into a positive further validating that he doesn't play with a full deck...allegedly.
His accomplishments are almost magical. Here are just a few:
1. Was able to turn $172 million credit union into $146 million credit union
2. Took 9 branches and turned them into 3
3. Took a staff of $150+ and turned it into a staff of 50 full-time employees
4. Caused 4 lawsuits by ex-employees, 1 from a member, 1 from its own accountants, and 1 from its auto broker.
5. Ignored security and approved mailing of envelopes on which were printed member account and social security numbers just above the name and address field.
6. Ignored security and gave the opportunity for $60,000 and later, $1 million (in cash) to be stolen from the L.A. branch.
7. Has caused more than $700,000 to be spent on legal since 2010
The good news is, he's still president so you know he's going to do something again. Congratulations Wiggles. When you were created, they threw away the mold (that's so the same mistake would be done more than once).
We're lonely, oh so lonely so Wiggles is our only friend.
Anonymous who wrote "Just checked the FPR Call Report and see that P1/Wiggy has not expensed any funds for the Provision for Loan Losses Expense for all of 2015 (6 months, so far)."
Great point. The only reason to omit the amount is because he is again, trying to hid the truth about the credit union's actual performance (poor performance). Every credit union needs a provision for loan losses because there are always loan losses. The credit union's loan performance is mediocre and it would be ignorant to think that Priority One has solved its issues with loan losses. How long can Mr. Deceptive hide the facts about Priority One's real performance?
To the person who posted about Yvonne: That is strange that this control freak would go out on a leave of absence unless she's ill and I don't mean mentally. The woman has been trouble since she started. She brought in those three horrible women who worked with her previous. There is Alex, the consummate unprofessional and addictive gossip. Naira, who seems nice but is so rude to members. There was Saundra, Yvonne's best friend who later had a falling out with Mrs. Boutte and resigned prompting Yvonne to exclaim, "Good riddance!" while standing in the collections department.
She also worked with Bea Walker to back stab so many employees and assassinate characters. That all stopped when they had a falling out and she went around the office bad mouthing Bea, her former friend. The day after Bea got fired, she stood in credit resolutions and loudly said, "I hope they pick me to be the next COO." The body wasn't even cold and she was already making plans to promote herself. It might have worked too had Wiggington not hired Cindy Garvin. Cindy got in over her head and working at Priority One brought out the worst in her. What's more, Yvonne complained about her, behind her back. So after Cindy got canned, Yvonne got promoted to VP of Operations. Have you ever wondered, if she's VP then who oversees operations?
When they audited the Los Angeles branch in 2013, she was the only who broke policy and told employees in South Pasadena what was going on. When the audit supposedly proved the thefts were committed by Lynnette Fortson, Yvonne again broke policy again and told employees why Lynnette got fired. She also went around and threatened employees that if they spoke to Lynnette, they too would get fired. Guess she didn't know that any and all employees could speak to Lynnette on their own personal time.
Back in 2012, she tried to strong arm a member after the member contacted useless old Diedra and told her the credit union published her loan and personal information on the internet. Yvonne threatened the member and tried to control her so the member sued and three months later, the credit union paid out a settlement so they wouldn't have to go to court.
Yvonne Boutte is a problem and has been a deterrent to morale. She is a female Wiggington.
If she's out on a personal leave of absence, then it probably points to some problem at the credit union. If its medical, maybe she had a nervous breakdown. If you know Yvonne, she's too insecure to ever leave the credit union because she's always afraid someone might try to get her position. Whatever the reason, her absence is for the best.
If you know Wiggles, you know that no way, no how, is he going to take the blame for his failures. He's never been accountable, childishly hiding behind the Board. I guess you can take the boy out of the closet his mother put him in, but you can't take the closet out of him.
Even if TWHC is guilty of not complying to auditing standards, they didn't walk out with the $1 million in cash allegedly been stolen by Lynnette. If the court finds them guilty they should be forced to return the money they charged the credit union for their services plus an costs deemed reasonable by the court but they should not be accountable for the actual theft of $1 MILLION. Priority One has security measures in place. Priority One should be held accountable for the actual physical thefts of money that have hit the credit union since Wiggington was named president. The big question is, why didn't Priority One stop or detect that cash was being stolen from the vault in 2009 and again, from 2010 to 2012? What good are security measures if they can't detect or deter thefts? You can't blame TWHC for failing to detect thefts during their single, year-end audits.
Security has been bad for a long time and even before TWHC got hired. In 2009 a receptionist succeeded in taking more than $60,000 from member accounts and transferring these into a bogus account. And those thefts occurred before Bea Walker was hired as COO on 6/1/09. At that time the thefts occurred, Rodger Smock was overseeing operations so he was responsible for failing to detect thefts that occurred in early 2009. So why didn't Rodger the self-proclaimed genius notice money was being stolen from member accounts? The only reason the credit union discovered those thefts was because a member complained money had been taken from her account. No arguing that security crashed after Wiggington became president and before they hired TWHC.
What the theft of $1 million proves is that Priority One's security is deficient and that under President Wiggington, either not enforced or maintained. It also shows just how stupid and ignorant the Supervisory Committee and Board of Directors are. Obviously, neither body is doing their job.
The solution is to fire Wiggington, remove Diedra and Cornelia. Actually, remove all the directors and supervisors. They're all incompetent and unable to perform their duties. They have all failed year after year and they've broken laws and covered up illegal acts.
Congratulations Wiggy on your nomination for the 2015 Doofus Award. This is quite an honor, especially since you won the 2014 Jackass of the Year Award.
His trophy case must be full because last year he got the Dumbass Award and the prestigious Pinniocchio Award.
The Society of American Magicians has nominated Wiggles for their prestigious Magic Award. They were highly impressed by his amazing ability to make $1 million in cash disappear without a trace. Step aside David Copperfield, cause Wiggles has arrived! Kuddos, Wiggy. This is your year.
I still don't understand how any employee, manager or not, can go into a vault and over 2 years, walk away with a total of $1 million without being seen by anyone or without the president, the coo, the accounting department, the cfo or the compliance officer ever noticing that something was missing. How is that even possible?
That's the million dollar question.
Was Lynnette ever arrested? If they had evidence that she stole the money, they should have turned it over to the district attorney who review the evidence and if it had sufficient merit, the evidence would be brought before a grand jury that would decide whether to indict or not indict. Has she even been indicted? If it happened in February 2013 they should of made a decision by now.
There are so many problems with that company. Charles should have been prosecuted when he sexually harassed and there are so many instances when he should have been fired including the many employees he started false rumors about with the help of Diedra and Rodger.
I am awarding my very first Cosby Sexual Harrassment Trophy to Charles Wiggington. I really want to thank Charles for taking some of the heat off me.
Wiggington's most memorable quotes:
"I wanna sop you up like gravy."
"Come over here so I can whip that ass."
"There were lots of people who wanted my job, but I played the game and won."
"I'm gonna push this credit union into the 21st century."
"I don't care if God told you to do it, you only do it if I tell you."
"Diedra is a bitch."
33% of the quotes are evidence Wiggy is a sexual harasser.
67% of the quotes prove Wiggy is an egomaniac.
100% of the quotes are proof Wiggy is a pompous jackass.
No wonder Wiggnutless is getting all these prestigious awards.
He was in the 21st century when he said he was going to take P1 to the 21st century. More proof he's a moron. What he did do is take the credit union to the 17th century. Congratulations Wiggles for finding a way to turn back time.
Love the percentages. So true.
During one of my many boring and unfortunately, memorable meetings in which we were supposed to discuss a car promotion, Wiggington bragged, "There's a lot of people who were jealous because I got the job, but where are they now?" Yes, it had nothing to do with the meeting but if you ever go into a meeting with him, expect to spend 5 minutes talking about the topic of the meeting and 110 minutes listening to him talk about his boring family, his boring cars, his boring sex life, his boring view of young people, his boring opinions about the U.S. educational system, etc.
Another time, he was talking to Diedra on his office phone, loudly talking about the woman who reported him for sexual harassment, He told Diedra, "Offer her $20,000- I just want her out of my life!" I know this because I was dropping off a report at his assistant's desk which was outside his office. Any president with half a brain would have closed the door to his office and drawn the curtains on the glass wall that let's you see into his office.
Anytime Wiggy gets himself in a bind he figures he can payoff someone to get out of a jam. And Diedra's more than willing to pony up hush money because Wiggy has those secret dossiers on her and the rest of the Board.
So agree. Whenever he does something unethical or illegal and they get sued, he runs to Diedra who gives the okay to use credit union money to hire bottom feeding lawyers who make up stories and excuses to defend him. When he does something stupid, like sexually harass an employee, Diedra turns around and issues a letter that the VICTIM somehow encouraged the old man to say and do things that were sexual in nature. I was at the Christmas gathering years ago when he took off his belt in front of about 12 employees and told Kim things like, "Come over hear cause I'm gonna whip that ass", "You know you need a good spanking", "come on, you need a good whippin'." It was uncomfortable enough that several of us left while he went on articulating his invitation. Back at the office, he'd walk into the loan department (in those days it didn't look like the prison it is now) and he'd tell her, "I want to sop you up like gravy." But old, dishonest, craggy Diedra turned around and in essence concluded that the employee was asking for it. BTW, all the statements were gathered by the investigator proving Wiggington said all those things and if you believe Diedra, he was the victim. What a lot of people don't know is that they credit union offered the employee $20,000 and she declined it so the board contacted the Department of Employment and Housing where the employee filed her complaint and offered $40,000. The offer lets you know Wiggington was not innocent and the board knew it.
Last week Rodger Smock said Yvonne is going to be out for awhile. He told another employee that she's ill but I doubt it. Before she left, they'd been having meetings without her. That's the MO when they want an officer out. Back in 2009, they kept Manny from meetings. In 2010, they started keeping Bea out of meetings. In early 2012, they stopped inviting Sylvia Perez to meeting. In mid-2012, Cindy wasn't invited to meetings either. All those people eventually left the credit union and never came back. Now it could be Yvonne is the exception but that's not likely since they always use the same tactics.
Why do all you haters persist in your efforts to put down Charles R. Wiggington Senior?
In our opinion it's jealousy, pure and simple!
Are you jealous CEO Wiggington has succeeded by taking a weak credit union and built it into a veritable powerhouse with a strong Capital Ratio of 9.05%?
Are you jealous that operations have been streamlined by jettisoning a few bloated, unprofitable branches, that frankly were doing nothing to improve member service or the bottom line? That's what a business does when faced with lean times brought about by the previous manager. It takes courage to make tough decisions. The kind of courage shown by President Wiggington and the Boatd of Directors.
Are you jealous that Priority One has posted profits of $276,000 for the first half of 2015? That's quite an accomplishment in anyone's book.
Speaking of accomplishments, let's give credit to our President for being nominated for the Good Governance Award. The previous CEO was never even nominated for this prestigious award.
Brothers, The Bible declares envy and jealousy are deadly sins that will injure your soul. Dwell in the light and the path of righteousness, avoid the darkness of jealousy and self-loathing.
I'm jealous of Charles. I admit it. Who else in the entire credit union industry can ruin a credit union, ruin people's livelihoods and still collect more than $150,000 in salary plus when he retires or gets fired, he has 2 pensions coming and a huge bonus?
And who else can reduce member service, eliminate business development and undercut marketing all to ensure Net Capital remains above the dreaded 6%. Where will he cut back next?
And wonderful work in branding the Redlands, Riverside, Valencia, Santa Clarita, Airport and Burbank branches as unprofitable. The only problem with that "excuse" is that Valencia was profitable and growing and bringing in lots of money. He also forgot to promote Redlands, Rivers, Santa Clarita and the Airport branches. Plus he opened the Santa Clarita branch out in the boonies and postal workers complained they weren't going to drive that far just to deposit or withdraw money. Tsk, tsk. He also said, "People will come to us because they're going to want to be members of Priority One." We're still waiting Wiggles.
The only courage Wiggles and Diedra Harris-Brooks have shown is that after all they've done they can still show their ugly faces in public. You're so right, that does take courage.
I hate to call the so-called "committee" stupid, but you choose facts that are convenient to your really dumb arguments. Study the record of profits over the past 7 years and you'll find that whatever profits Wiggles is reporting are not that impressive plus who can trust a man who once asked us to take money from a GL and report it as profit. Tsk, tsk, again.
And yes, congratulations on Wiggles' DumbAss Award.
Actually stealing, lying and malicious gossiping are also sins.
I would like to thank the Committee For Vindication for making me realize I am jealous of Charles Wiggington.
I'm jealous that I work hard everyday and lazy-ass Wiggy just goofs-off while he gets a sweet paycheck for doing nothing while ruining a once great credit union.
I'm jealous Wiggy can hire his cronies and yes-men to kiss his ass, while he drives out any employee who disagrees with him.
I'm jealous he's got secret dossiers on the Board that he uses to keep them in line.
I'm jealous Wiggy gives Diedra casino chips when she's "training" at hotel bars while attending Vegas Junkets.
As Dr. Phil might ask, "So Wiggles, how's that working out for you?"
Hiding the financials didn't keep the public from discovering that the credit union couldn't sell ice cold water in the Sahara.
Hiding employee testaments didn't help keep it a secret he sexually harassed a former employee.
Lying that business is good didn't stop the credit union from closing the Redlands, Riverside, Valencia, Burbank. Santa Clarita and Airport branches.
This is to the Committee of Vindication, if the branches Wiggington closed were not profitable then how come they were profitable before he became president. The only thing this dullard hasn't done is blame his dog for the credit union's decline.
By the way, why did net income sky dive after he became president?
I think we can safely say that no one, absolutely no one residing on planet earth (or any other planet in the Milky Way) is jealous of Wiggington, of Miss Smock, of Yvonne "Big Foot" Boutte, of Robert "Erkle" West, of "Alex "Kaitlyn" Suarez or Esmeralda "Globo" Sandoval.
Wow, what appropriate descriptions of Wiggington.
"lazy-ass Wiggy just goofs-off while he gets a sweet paycheck for doing nothing while ruining a once great credit union."
Hiring "cronies and yes men to kiss his ass, while he drives out any employee who disagrees with him." When I worked there, a friend in the accounting department once told me Wiggington has two sets of books. Those he shows auditors and those with the real figures.
Diedra is one lucky ghetto bitch. When the credit union was doing well, the woman who used to wear cullotes and ankle strap stilettos, got to travel to Europe, Hawaii and Las Vegas where her best friend was apparently the casino bar. She spent money in the bar like an aged cougar spends money on a 20-year old man.
When Wiggles was VP, he used to annoy all of us by coming into credit resolutions and telling us stories of when he was a young stud. One time he told us about how when he arrived in California, he had "so much tail" and said women threw themselves on him.
Another time he told us how he'd been on a business trip and was dancing with a fat girl and he swore, "she wanted me."
Another time he told us about when he was single, how he and a buddy went out and met 3 girls that they brought back to his apartment. The fat girl dragged him into the bedroom where they went at. His friend and the other two women left the apartment. The lesson he learned was "fat girls" are better at sex because they want it more.
As you can tell, he's really intelligent and interesting and so dignified. What I respect most is that he's not going to let something like his position at the credit union or that he's married, stop him from telling stories about how great he is with women and how no woman can resist his charms. I guess we should all be jealous that he has a way with women that few men (and some women) have.
Ah yes, I remember Wiggington's stories. I never really believed them because he's bald, out of shape and so ghetto. There might be women that find that attractive though it just don't seem he could get the herds of women he claimed to get. The only reason I can think of why women would stare at him is because he talks too much and too loudly or because he smells. His talking with his mouth full of food my cause someone to stare though I never could. And of course a person might stare whenever he scratched or repositioned his genitalia via his pants pocket. Funny how sometimes we can't see what everybody else sees.
Yes, I'm mesmerized every time Wiggy starts scratching his balls in public. Hard to believe how uncouth the guy can be. Once I saw him scratch his gonads for eight straight minutes without stopping! It's as if he's daring people to look right at him as he scratches. He must have a helluva itch.
And you're right, he loves to chomp his food with a wide-open mouth. Maybe he has a breathing problem, so he needs to keep his mouth wide open. I'm of the opinion he just wants everyone to stare at his extensive dental work.
Does anyone have any evidence Wiggy is a lazy-ass who just goofs off all the time? I mean he seems to be working with his balls quite a bit.
Does scratching one's balls qualify as work? I'd say it's Wiggy's hobby.
He is a busy guy particularly now days with all the lawsuits and being named a defendant in at least 1 of those lawsuits. I'm sure he prioritizes his work day. He's Supposed to be at the office at 8:30 am but he may arrive at 9:00 am to 10:30 or later on any given day. Following his arrival, a typical workday is structured as follows:
9:00 am - 11 am: Uses his cell and office phone to indulge in personal phone calls
11 am - 12 noon: Peruses the internet looking at NEW BMW's and makes personal phone calls.
12 pm - 1 pm. Prepares for lunch and may spend time on his cellular or office phone.
1 pm - 3 pm: Lunch time. Not available to answer business related questions
3 pm. - 3:15 pm: Checks his emails, visits his FB page, reads the blog, etc.
3:15 pm - 3:45 pm: Takes a break in the lunch room or at his desk. Misses the day when he could sit next to a former employee and run his hand over her thigh and squeeze her knee while telling her he could sop her up like gravy.
3:45 pm.- 5:00 pm: Unwinds as he prepares to end another hectic workday.
During the day, he answers Diedra's calls to his cell phone, talks to attorneys (lots of attorneys), strolls to Rodger Smock's or Robert West's offices to gossip, malign people, and complain about all the criticism leveled at him. He also scratches frequently. He practices talking with his mouth full of food. The reason for this is that if he loses his job,, he wants to become a ventriloquist.
Yes, it qualifies as work to no-nothing Wiggy.
If the credit union goes to court, are they going to bring up the character of its president and his abuses and history of thefts at the credit union since he became president? If they do that with defendants and witnesses, I would think they would do it with Wiggington and his executives. After all, they're history before TWHC were ever contracted was full of allegations of wrong doing including the fact he sexually harassed and that he took a member's car and transferred ownership to himself. The way he does business stems from his character and either everything that he is accused of him is exaggerated or its true and there is enough evidence filed by ex-employees that show this man is a lawbreaker and liar.
Testimonies about the credit union's character, can be presented in court. Anything attesting to character can be used if the subject of character is part of the issue being disputed in litigation. In the case of Priority One, it can be used to reveal the character of the credit union and its officers. Exposing the past acts of President Wiggington can be used to impugn his character, to show that under his leadership, thefts by employees are commonplace at the credit union. TWHC's attorneys can show the court that robberies occurred before TWHC was contracted by Priority One. Its also important because CUMIS' allegations are accusing TWHC of purposely ignoring auditing standards which is on attack on their character and competence. TWHC should now present evidence that President Wiggington has refused to abide to the credit union's own security policies and that he has a history of violating laws.
Loved the hourly breakdown of Wiggy's workday. It confirms what the readers of this blog suspected - basically he's a lazy-ass troll who could be easily replaced by a rock.
A rock! LOL.
The Committee For Vindication is proud to announce that President Charles Wiggington has been nominated to receive the prestigious Good Governance Award for outstanding service to the credit union industry. This meritorious annual award exemplifies the highest degree of self-sacrifice, superior results and integrity that can be bestowed on a credit union CEO.
Leadership and Good Governance Award is presented on behalf of the Founders, Rev. and Mrs. Sun Myung Moon, to those manifesting excellence in leadership, integrating professional excellence and practical wisdom with moral and spiritual principles.
The CFV you are so full of shit you are more that a little nuts but this aware gose to people who are way out not some crazy person like wigg getto and total out of his mind.
After reading this blog for a while I get the feeling that there are quite a few moochers & freeloaders on the management team and on Board.
Can someone who is in the know (probably a P1 employee) rank the top 10 moochers with explanations as to their ranking so everyone can be informed. Thx
From what I can tell I'd say Robert West and Diedra are in a dead-heat as to who is the biggest moocher.
#1 Moocher is Charles R. Wiggington, Sr.
Since 2007, he used company money to pay for consultants to come to his office and look for electrronic surveillance equipment, to hire lawyers to defend him when he was accused of sexual harassment, to create dozens of huge pins that every employee was ordered to wear on which were printed the words, "Just Ask" and that employees stopped wearing within 3 weeks after they were first distributed. When he attended out-of-state seminars he didn't attend the conferences but spent his time drinking in hotel bars. He also hired a COO because he said he needed someone to help him with his work (what work?) and to help him drive out enemy employee who wanted his throne and after paying her more than $200,000, fired her. There is too much this moron has done to put in a single post. He also said, he had "18 cameras installed" around his office at the cost to the credit union, to "protect me against any employee coming to my office with a gun." Paranoid enough, Wiggington?
#2 Moocher is Diedra Harris-Brooks. Since Mr Harris retired, she got the president to pay for gasoline spent by each board member to drive to their monthly meetings to South Pasadena, She also got Wiggington to give ALL the directors FREE internet at their homes. He does this by having them connected to the company network. Some of the directors and supervisors have bad credit but Diedra has made sure they remain in place to support her agendas. And as employees and readers know, she has abused expense monies given to her to pay for her food while on credit union junkets but Diedra spent her monies on liquor and Wiggington covered for her when reporting expenses.
## Moocher, Robert West. This useless, boring so-called Director is a cheap skate and receives a salary he doesn't deserve. He has found security in the arms of his "friend", President Wiggington. Wiggington knows he couldn't keep him as a trainer because the shrinking credit union didn't need one so he promoted him to Director of Employee Services aka Human Resources. Problem is the department has another Director, useless, old and dishonest, Rodger Smock. Over the years, hard working and underpaid employees conducted bridal and baby showers during which they collected from $5 to $7 per person. Tight wad, Robert West, donated no more than $3 and with that measly amount of money, ate food and had the nerve of signing cards. The so-called religious man has no concept of what his testimony means. He has also used his time at work to write a poor selling book that had nothing to do with his position at the credit union and as has been pointed out, indulged himself in naps during working hours. Nowadays his lunch periods last 2 to 2.5 hours and of course there's that boring article he wrote for HigherUp.
#Moocher, former COO, Bea Walker. The woman was hand-picked by Charles Wiggington. Though they were friends for years before he hired her, when he brought her to the credit union they both lied and said they didn't know one another. During her 2 year stay, she got paid over $200,000 and she spent more than $100,000 on a failed call center and in remodeling the Burbank branch which closed less than one year after being revamped. She also remodeled the entire South Pasadena branch claiming it would increase business. It didn't. She had the place wall-to-wall carpeted and all left over materials- paint and carpet were delivered at the cost to the credit union, to her home in Santa clarita. She also charged a $5,000 laptop to the credit union and President Wiggington approved payment.
These are probably the biggest culprits of misappropriating credit union monies and how I wish they would be forced to payback every cent they abused and used for their personal indulgences.
The committee is either some not-so-funny person or persons trying to elicit reactions or they're seriously certifiable or maybe just out-right stupid.
I want to write to present a more detailed account of what happened several years ago when Wiggington took possession of Mr Wafa's car.
At the time, I had been in conversation with the member who had fallen behind on his payments. In talking to him I discovered that there had been an illness in his family which forced him to travel out of state. The cost of traveling and missing work caused him to fall behind on his payments. These are the kinds of things that are always unforeseeable and unexpected. At the time I drove to his home on several occasions and worked out a payment schedule that would make him easy to make payments while not injuring his credit. The member signed the agreement and I returned to South Pasadena where I handed the documents to my supervisor who at that time was the owner and contractor hired by the credit union to collect debts.
When he noticed the member's car was a BMW, he went to Wiggington who at the time was the VP of Operations. Wiggington denied the payment schedule and ordered the car repossessed. The car was picked up and the repossession reported to Experian.
Wiggington and my boss created paperwork to make it look like the car was being sent to auction but Wiggington took over ownership, without paying a penny. I was terminated a few weeks later for using the fax machine and copier for personal business. According to my boss, it was Wiggington who said I must be fired.
I hope this presents a clear picture of one of the things Wiggington has done and that was before he became president. If you look for records of the case, you can't find them because they were removed from South Pasadena. If you look at the member's account, you'll see that his loan balance was written off and no payments posted after the date of the repossession. When a car is sent to auction, whatever money is recuperated is applied to the outstanding balance. Why then is there no money posted for the sale of the car at auction? Because it wasn't sent to auction and Wiggington took it without paying a penny.
Thank you for posting the detailed ranking and explanation of the Priority One's prime moochers.
I think the Committee For Vindication is completely serious in their staunch support of Wiggy. And, yes, they (West and Simona) are certifiably insane.
You didn't include Rodger. He's not a moocher in that he misappropriates money but the fact he's still employed when clearly he serves no purpose except making sure he covers up for Wiggington each time he violates policy, is robbing the credit union of its financial resources just like West is another example of what you don't need. I remember a few years ago, old useless former director, Thomas Gathers, raised his voice at Rodger and talked to him like he was his servant. Rodger got so upset and on the verge of tears ran and cried to Wiggington and Diedra. Pathetic. If it wasn't for him, the credit union wouldn't have been sued so many times by former employees or had to pay out settlements. He purposely exempted Wiggington, Bea and Yvonne from having to follow policy like every other employee and he let them violate federal laws. He should have retired a long time ago. He owns income property and a house that puts Wiggington's to shame, so retire and stop draining the credit union of its financial resources.
Rodger has always had that condescending attitude. People never meet his high estimations yet for years employees and one former lending director, talked about the parties they attended at Rodger's home. Georgina told us how she, Gema, Anna and a few girls and Henry were all invited to Rodger's home. While the "ladies" swam in the pool, Georgina said, Rodger spent time in the bedroom with Henry and every so often, Rodger would come out and refill their drinks. Anna got so drunk, she took off all her clothes as she swam around the pool. You'd think that because his guests had to drive home that as HR Director you might not want to get any of them drunk, but just like Priority One policy, he ignored the fact the safety of his guests. A few months later, Anna, the same guest that swam naked in the pool, got in an auto accident while driving home allegedly inebriated and she lost and entire arm.
Rodger is certainly entitled to sleep with whoever he chooses but he should have refrained from fraternizing with Henry, a relationship he didn't keep hidden from other staff. It was inappropriate but Rodger is not the policy keeper he pretends to be. On the contrary, under him, policy is contorted to protect Charles and other executives. By the way, its a shame that these people are referred to as executives.
Rodger used to try to act like he was everybody's friend but he had no problem with driving a knife into anyone's back. He used to describe himself as a peacemaker, but he in fact is pure rotten and is the cause of so many of the credit union's worst morale problems. What I do give him is that he's way smarter than Wiggington and the entire Board and supervisory committee, combined. But being more clever than the directors and supervisors is hardly an accomplishment in the real world. He also has a profane mouth. That man can use profanity quite adeptly. Too bad his use of profanity is more masterful than his abilities as Director of HR a position he shares with Robert West. Why a puny credit union has 2 overpaid Directors over HR is a topic for another post.
When President Charles Wigginton receives the Good Governance Award it will be a proud day for all supporters of our CEO, the Board, the membership and Priority One. You can be sure our Committee already has champagne on ice in eager anticipation. Yes, corks will be popped when the GGA is bestowed on our hall-of-fame leader, Charles Wiggington. Glory to our leader.
On the other hand, haters and mischief-makers should be shamed and embarrassed after making innumerable derogatory comments on this site. Even though an apology is in order, like Donald Trump, you haters will never apologize for your wrongdoing.
Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the Devil. Ephesians 6:11
If you're trying to be funny, refrain from using Biblical scripture so irreverently. Its one thing to make silly statements and allude to non-existent awards, its quite another to demonstrate such an immense level of disrespect, the same disrespect Charles R. Wiggington, Sr. has shown to people, to policies, and to laws. Thank you.
Committee of Sedation:
CoV: "When President Charles Wigginton receives the Good Governance Award it will be a proud day for all supporters of our CEO, the Board, the membership and Priority One."
Reply: Your president, sexual harasser, car stealer and conniver can't even get a
Razzi
CoV; "You can be sure our Committee already has champagne on ice in eager anticipation. Yes, corks will be popped when the GGA is bestowed on our hall-of-fame leader, Charles Wiggington. Glory to our leader."
Reply: There is no way that Priority One can afford buying champagne or ice. Well, maybe a couple of bottles of Boone's Farm but everybody has to bring their own Styrofoam cups as the credit union hasn't provided those in 6 years.
CoV: "On the other hand, haters and mischief-makers should be shamed and embarrassed after making innumerable derogatory comments on this site.
Reply: If by haters you are referring to Robert West, Diedra Harris-Brooks, Rodger Smock and Charles Wiggington, then you are absolutely correct. Those bitches and thieves have spent years robbing the credit union and depriving the members of services and qualify affordable products they deserve so yes, those haters will hopefully finally once and for all get all they deserve.
You realize that you're nuts and amoral, don't you?
@Committee For Vindication
Comparing Wiggy to Donald Trump is an insult to Donald Trump.
Donald Trump may have been tactless but the issue was immigration reform. With Wiggington, he tells you one thing and its a complete lie. Then he gets caught and targets a victim who suffers for what he did. Thankfully, he's got a corrupt board with a way over the hill chairperson and he's got a brain dead supervisory committee who never noticed over twenty-four months that $1 million IN CASH were being removed from the vault by one person. Yeah, don't bring Trump into this. If you want to compare Wiggington to anyone, there are other choices like Billy the Kid, Bonnie and Clyde, Al Capone. Oh wait, they were all intelligent and you knew that what they said is what they meant.
Mrs Irving, Gathers and dumb as dirt Saffold used to say that they selected Wiggington because what the credit union needed most was a black president. I think its time to change colors.
President Charles Wiggington will be officially exonerated at the upcoming TWHC trial. Our CEO's courageous testimony will seal the fate of discredited auditors, as well as vault sneak-thief Lynette. In one fell swoop of honesty the P1 management team will be redeemed in the eyes of the righteous.
Sinners and haters you will be rebuked - repent at the feet of your wise master before your time runs out.
All the supporters of Wiggles who are few in number, have their own personal agenda. Without Wiggles, West and Smock wouldn't have jobs. They are highly expendable and of no use to the credit union and neither ever contributes anything that creates no business or resolves the problems Wiggles created.
Yvonne owes Wiggles her promotions because under an intelligent, ethical and competent president, she would not have been promoted and probably terminated a long time ago.
Diedra doesn't have the freedom to abuse credit union resources were it not for Wiggles plus if it wasn't for Diedra, Wiggles would have been fired for sexual harassment, not-so-clever reporting practices, slander, harassment and stealing a member's car. His allies don't care for him but they have a personal interest in making sure he stays firmly in place. What I do know is that the board if now worried because at least one of the new lawsuits names him a defendant while he and they are going to have to answer questions about credit union policy, security, and practices something this ignorant and horrible group of people either no nothing about or choose not to practice.
@Committee of Vindication
Lynnette is a "vault sneak-thief"? Interesting because Wiggington's misuse of credit union monies to fund his personal indulgences like having his office screened for what turned out to be non-existent electronic bugs, his playing with the books so that no one would discover that Ms. Diedra the board chair liked to spend more than her daily allowance of credit union monies at a Las Vegas bar and his years of reporting profits where none exist and reducing the amount of losses make him a "sneak-thief", doesn't it?
You realize you sound more than a little insane, don't you?
The committee is stupid. They're either yanking everybody's chains or their brain dead.
For years Wiggles, Saffold, Bea, West, Smock and at one-time, old, retired Thomas Gathers used to post stupid, identical comments on this blog and then go to South Pasadena and talk about it. They're comments were/are as stupid as anything they've ever done as officer of the credit union.
You're right, they've done nothing for the credit union or the members. Since Wiggington became presiDENT, they have added more and more fees including charging people who call in to ask for their account balances. Under Mr Harris there weren't so many fees including charges for accounts that fall below the minimum $500 monthly minimum free checking account balance.. They had more branches, better services, they visited businesses and communities. Now they come off like a third rate frugal credit union, service is horrible and they're being sued on every side.
According to big-shot Wiggy if you can't keep a minimum $500 balance then he doesn't want you as a Priority One member.
If you go below $500 Wiggy's plan is to fee you to death. It's a great plan....if you want to screw members.
Wiggy, Wipe that smirk off your face.
Wig has always deluded himself into believing that people will by dying and fighting to become a member of the messy, disorganized, horribly managed credit union he created. Back in 2007, he bragged that it was time to get rid of the postal worker sector that made up most of the membership and who he seems to have forgotten, founded Priority One. He told the AVPs (that no longer exist) that they were to reduce and stop visits to post offices and focus instead on bringing in more and more SEGs. The credit union had never gotten most of their business from SEGs and though Rodger Smock used to often say that offering SEG employees membership to the credit union was plus for any business, the fact is, of the credit union's more than 100 SEGs, only a handful sought out business from the credit union. Still, Wiggington made up his mind and in 2007 ordered more SEGs and reduced contact with postal workers. In October 2010, we were called into a meeting and told to stop SEG development because the money being spent to get SEGs wasn't getting any of the desired results.
When he picked Bea Walker to be COO back in 2009, one of her many duties beside targeting and harassing employees that Wiggington thought were out to get him, was finding ways of getting more money in. Each day she would call friends in the industry and she would afterwards meet with Wiggington, Smock and later, Diedra. The very first inspired brainstorm she had was to add and adding and increase rates. Wiggington was all for it because as a former employee of B of A he was familiar with the practice of gouging. She also introduced what became a long list of failed products and services which were implemented and approved by Diedra Harris-Brooks.
When he opened Santa Clarita he told us, "We don't have to advertise, people are going to come from miles around wanting to be our member." Santa Clarita closed less than 2 years later. Wiggington has always had one foot in fantasy land and another in stupid land. He has no common sense, clearly isn't a business man and is satisfied with getting a paycheck for his incompetent leadership.
The old and original credit union credo was, "Not for profit, not for charity but for service." Credit unions were established to help people who couldn't obtain services from traditional banks. Much of the industry though not all, has forgotten or ignored these and no more do you find this to be true than at Priority One thanks to Wiggington and the board. By the way, when was the last time the credit reports for each supervisor and board director were checked? I think you might be surprised by what you'd find.
Wiggington is a wonderful stand up guy, a real mensch!
Oh wait, I woke up with a hangover, I meant schmuck!
His character permeates everything he says and does (and does not do). In late 2006, an elderly black couple came to the loan department to complete an application. They were rude and belligerent and they got the loan processor so nervous, she asked for another employee to help her. While the other employee completed the application, the couple continued talking, criticizing the processor who had started assisting them. The person who came to help ignored them completely as they were clearly antagonists. When the application was complete the first process resumed trying to assist the couple but they became more and more belligerent. The processor finally got tired of the abuse which was being witnessed by every employee in consumer lending. She yelled, "Stop talking to me that way!" They yelled back and demanded a manager. Because the lending director and his assistant were out, Wiggington was called to the department. He escorted the couple to the desk of a real estate officer to separate them from the processor they had conflicted with. Then audibly he told the couple that the loan processor was pregnant and being effected by her hormones. Dr.. Wiggington issued his diagnosis without ever obtaining the facts of what had occurred and of course, without conducting medical testing to determine if in fact, the altercation had been the result of the processor's raging hormones. Actually, Wiggington is more of a doctor than a president or CEO because what this "schmuck" knows about business can fit on the tip of your small finger.
Oh yes, Wiggington and his years of blunders. When I sat outside his old office, there were days when frustrated members would ask to speak to the person who oversaw operations. Though he was the VP of Operations, he refused to meet with members. When he received a call from member services or the loan departments telling hi a member wanted to speak to him regarding a compliant, he either run off to the lounge room to hide and come back 40 minutes later or he would pick-up the receiver to his phone and pretend he was on a call. He would be available long enough that members would just leave the office. Its no surprise he was also a horrible a VP.
The only times he might meet with members is if he was told to by Mr. Harris. I believe he refused to meet with angry members because he's lazy and a coward. Mr. Harris never had a problem meeting with members or returning their calls or responding to their letters. Then of course, Mr Harris is a respectable man while Wiggington hides behind Diedra, the supervisor committee, lawyers and his lies and always makes sure that when cornered, targets an innocent scapegoat to take the blame for his mistakes.
I guess any of us that worked with this stupid man, have stories to tell. That smug attitude, all the bragging about how much smarter he is than most people, his boasts about taking Priority One into the future, all turned out to be nothing more than talk from a big mouth 7 year old trapped in the body of a 66 year old.
@ Jackie Mason
I looked up the Definition of a Schmuck - a dumb, inconsiderate, rude, manipulative, jerk, ass or bastard.
Ya know the definition fits Wiggy perfectly.
Congratulations Wiggy, you're a Schmuck. I wonder if you'll get an Award for that?
@Anonymous who wrote, "According to big-shot Wiggy if you can't keep a minimum $500 balance then he doesn't want you as a Priority One member..... Wiggy, Wipe that smirk off your face."
I'm guessing you're an employee. You are right, Wiggy or stupid as most of us call him, has the most obnoxious smirk. This creep really thinks he's smart, clever and innovative. A few years ago during an all staff meeting, tired, lazy and useless Rodger Smock stood at the podium and spoke about how employees would have to earn high scores on their evaluations so that they could receive raises. Wiggington stood by the reception desk, nodding incessantly like a broken bobble head figure, and muttering, "Yeah, that's right. No one gets a raise unless they rate a 5." This moron has rated zeros every year since 2007 but old corrupt Diedra Harris-Brooks and her board of imbeciles give him bonuses each and every year. With Wiggington there is always a double-standard. He demands excellence from staff but he's the industry's biggest F**k-up.
Schmuck. Is highly appropriate. So is ass, numbskull, blockhead, bonehead, brain dead, etc.
You called Wiggington a mensch and schmuck. Jiddish? That's funny. A few years ago we had a Jewish woman in business development. Wiggington never liked her but like the bigot he truly is, he would tell people "you know they [Jews] don't like Black people." Inappropriate and ignorant stereotyping and profiling. He and his then buddy, Sylvia Perez, documented lies and with the help of Rodger Smock, terminated her. She should have sued because those people- Wiggington and Perez, harassed and abused her.
@Jackie Mason
Wiggy is a racist and a sexual harasser. He is the epitome of a Schmuck - it's Yiddish - I looked it up.
I also consider Wiggy to be a Schlemiel and a Schmendrick. He is known to have a real teeny tiny Schemeckle, too.
Several months ago Wiggy was offered $100,000 in the STFU Challenge by Lt. Col. Doom. If Wiggy met challenge stipulations he would be awarded the cash. The stipulations were:
1. Wiggy had to keep silent for 1 week - no talking whatsoever.
2. No ball scratching or crank yanking for a week.
3. Wiggy had to eat his meals without a wide-open mouth.
Wiggy did not meet the Challenge. Turns out Wiggles was not up to the STFU Challenge and no cash was handed out.
Now I am issuing the No-Smirking Challenge where the stipulation is easier to achieve. Simply put I will pay Wiggy $15k (I placed the money prize is an escrow account) if he can stop his dumbass smirking for just 10 business days. It's easy money. All you gotta do is wipe that ridiculous goofball grin off your ugly puss and the money is yours.
Wiggington is a slave to his own behaviors. He has to brag, its just who he is. He used to share that as a child he had an uncontrollable need to talk, all to the frustration of his mother and because of it, he was punished. Evidently, the punishments didn't work. You couldn't get this man to stop yakking just like you can't get him to stop lying, cheating, or ruining the credit union, employee livelihoods or breaking laws. Its just who he is and you'd probably be more successful getting a hamster to dance an Irish jig.
As a P1 employee I'm literally sickened when I see Wiggy's smug smirk. So even though I don't have much extra cash I am willing to kick in $10 if idiot Wiggy will wipe that moronic grin off his face. It's not much, but it's all I can afford.
Ref Wiggy: It's not so much of a dumbass smirk as it is a shit-eating grin. But let's not quibble.
The man, for lack of a better word,, is amoral.. He has acted so gracefully and incompetently for years, but he is so out of touch that he still insists that what everyone sees as losses is part of his master plan that will one day prove profitable. He really thinks that high net capital = profit. He can't understand that new business creates profit. He doesn't live in reality thanks to a board that enables him.
Is it smug or is he just stuck on stupid?
The Facts- 1
No arguing, Charlie Wiggington has established quite a reputation at the credit union and in the industry. If he ever wanted to be famous, then he's achieved his goal. That's probably one of the few goals he's actually ever achieved in his life. I've been going through the past posts and though I know Charlie better than I wish I did, I thought I tried to keep my comments limited to his activities at work.
2007: Charlie decides that the medium-sized credit union needs AVPs so that it resemble the corporate structure of his long ago employer, Bank of America.
2007: He promotes his friend and colleague, Liz Campos to AVP and 3 months later, fires her at the request of the credit union attorneys because an investigation proves she had been kiting for years before she got promoted. Charlie was also the officer who approved backing out her more than 40 NSF fees.
2007: He promotes his "buddy", Lending Director, Aaron Cavazos to serve as AVP. Mr. Cavazos begins to work 1 to hour workdays and spends the remainder of his day working as an Appraiser for Century 21 whose office is located on Fremont Avenue in Alhambra, CA. Mr. Cavazos also brings customers whose homes he's appraised and who he has sold homes to, to his office in South Pasadena to impress them with his corporate surroundings. Though he's AVP of Lending, loan production begins to decline and the board asks Charles to explain why Mr. Cavazos is failing. Charlie calls Aaron into a meeting with Rodger Smock and advises him that because he's not generating new business, the responsibility over loan development is being transferred to Patricia Loiacano who will also be promoted to AVP of Lending. Furious, Mr Cavazos yells at Charlie, slams his fist on the desk and demands an explanation why he wasn't first consulted about her impending promotion. Angered by what he's heard, Mr. Cavazos claims he's stressed and needs time off. He leaves the credit union that day but when he contacts the credit union to advise them he plans to return, Charlie asks Rodger Smock to compile the complaints filed by employees against Mr Cavazos in the years before promoting Mr Cavazos to AVP. Once compiled, these are submitted to the attorneys who determine there is sufficient evidence to fire Mr Cavazos. The documents about Mr Cavazos termination were left by Esmeralda atop a table in the conference room, providing an opportunity for many employees to discover why he never returned to Priority One.
2007: Charlie refuses to perform security procedures and as a result, ballots are mailed to members with member account and social security numbers printed on the outside.
2007: Charlies disbands the credit union's award winning marketing department, replaces it with a marketing committee made up of employees of the credit union, none of who have any experience in marketing and headed by Aaron Cavazos, though Mr Cavazos was fired in 2008 for violations of policy committed prior to 1/1/07, the date he was promoted by Charlie to AVP.
2007: Charlies makes it a habit to sprawl on a loveseat located alongside the desk of then Card Services Supervisor, Suzanne Sunada. The desk is located in the consumer loan department where there were no walls or cubicles separating employee work areas. During his daily "sessions", Mr. Wiggington tells Suzanna who he intends to fire and says he needs to rid the company of "Harris' people" (his predecessor, Mr. Harris). He complains about Lynnette, referring to her as inadequate yet only 5 years later an audit would reveal she embezzled more than $1 million. So who exactly was the incompetent?
Without consulting his executive staff including the CFO, he purchases a new phone system which would prove financially disastrous and force the credit union to spend huge amounts of money on technicians who regularly visit the credit union to try and resolve continually developing technical issues with the system.
The Fact- 2
2008: He borrows $20 million from the credit union's line of credit to create the impression of new business and to raise the amount of net income. Over the next year and a half, the credit union pays out between $30,000 to $33,000 a month in interest alone.
2008: Charlie is accused and found guilty of sexual harassment. An investigation reveals that for years he used to invite an employee to come and lie across his lap so that he could "whip your ass" or at other times, "spank your ass" because "you need it" and "because you know you want it", "you want it", and "you know you deserve it." He would also often tell her that "I want to sop you up like gravy" and was witnessed placing his hand atop her knees and thighs while she was seated in the lunch room. The board covers the evidence and attributes his uncontrollable sexual comments as a response to having been encouraged by the victim.
2009: Charlie hires his long-time friend, Beatrice "Bea" Walker to help drive out enemy employees who Charlie said "are jealous that I'm president." Ms Walker is also supposed to introduce new streams of income which will resolve the credit union's lagging sales. She begins by hiring her friend, consultant Loren Lillestrand who on the surface is supposed to conduct classes which will help determine employee strengths which will be used to increase and improve business but his real purpose according to Ms. Walker, is to identify the bloggers. After spending more than $30,000 on his services, the credit union decides not to utilize any of the information he provided because he failed to identify the names of bloggers.
Ms Walker convinces the board that Charlie doesn't know what he's doing and that if they leash and bridle him, she can introduce changes that will improve business. So by December 2009, Charlie has lost most of his power. Ms. Walker has also revealed that she wants Rodger Smock out because he's expensive and useless and she wants Robert West terminated because he's an unnecessary expense. She creates her own inside circle made up of Yvonne Boutte and Joseph Garcia and promotes Mr Garcia.
She gets Charlie who is desperate for re-acceptance by the board, to convince Diedra that what will turn business around is a new call center and remodeling of the South Pasadena and Burbank offices. Diedra approves without demanding anything like a study to support Ms. Walker's and the President's statements.
2009: Charlie is forced to open the Airport branch following threats by the Airport Postal Station manager that he will find another credit union or bank to fill an empty space located at the property.
2009: An audit discovers that more than $60,000 were stolen by a former receptionist.
2009: Its revealed that before he became President, Charlie repossessed a member’s car and transferred ownership to his name without paying any money against the outstanding auto loan delinquency.
The Facts- 3
2010: The Call Center is opened in January 2010 and by March 2010, member complaints citing poor service have actually increased. One key complaint is long waits when calling the center.
2010: Charlie is advised by state auditors that he had been cut down spending because net capital has dipped below 7%. By October 2010, he targets closure of the Redlands and Valencia branches.
2010: The credit union is sued by the former Burbank Branch Manager who alleges she was the victim of racial (White) and age discrimination.
2010: Charlie is ordered to relegate control over HR from Rodger Smock to Ms. Walker.
2010: Charlie is informed that Beatrice Walker has not only been abusing the Valencia branch manager, but has estranged her from her staff, stalked the manager and even sexually harassed her. Charlie uses the information to regain favor with the board.
2010: Charlie takes back control over HR and appoints control over the department to Robert West who has absolutely no experience in anything related to HR
2010: The credit union receives notice they are being sued by a former business development representative who accuses Charlie of slandering his reputation and concocting lies used to terminate him, however, Charlie also offers the employee a severance package if he won't sue the credit union. When confronted, Charlie denies that he ever slandered the employee though Charlie used credit union money to pay for the services of a corrupt forensics investigator who created fraudulent documentation implicating the employee in overt violations of policy but when confronted, Charlie allege he doesn't not remember the accusations leveled against the employee.
2010: The president orders the termination of the receptionist because he believes she has been divulging confidential information about him even though she has no access to confidential information.
2010: He and Bea fire the marketing specialist because Rodger Smock lied and told them he believes the specialist is a blogger.
2011. Beatrice Walker is fired for insubordination and failing to carryout her assigned responsibilities.
2011: Charlie Closes the Riveside office.
2011: Cindy Garvin is hired to replace Ms. Walker
The Facts- 4
2012: Charlie opens the Santa Clarita branch claiming members will want to join the credit union so there is no need to promote its location.
2012: The credit union is sued by a former FSR assigned to the Burbank branch.
2012: The Burbank branch closes.
2012: Former ally and "friend" to Charlie, Sylvia Perez, who for years boasted about her superior business development skills, flees the credit union after it is discovered that she had exaggerated her competency and was quite inept in anything related to business development. She later tells employees that Mr. Wiggington betrayed her.
2012: Cindy Garvin is fired by Wiggington.
2013: The Santa Clarita branch closes after 23 months. Charlie was wrong again, members didn't flock to the credit union demanding to become members.
2013: The credit union is sued by a member whose confidential information is published on this blog by an officer of the credit union. The credit union settles the complaint within 3 months.
2013: An audit discloses $1 million in cash were stolen from the vault of the L.A branch by an AVP.
2014: The Airport branch closes its doors.
2014: CUMIS investigates the theft and audits performed by Turner Warren Hwang and Conrad and files a lawsuit against the auditing firm accusing them of breach of contract.
2014: The credit union's auto broker, Auto Alliance, files a lawsuit against Priority One for breach of contract.
2015: Turner Warren Hwang and Conrad file a lawsuit against Priority One Credit Union
2015: Priority One files a counter-lawsuit against Turner Warren Hwang and Conrad.
And these are just SOME of what Charlie has done while president. And how can he have done so much and not been removed? Well, you'd have to ask board chair, Diedra Harris-Brooks.
Yikes!
Nice, loooonnnnnnngggg history of stupid but avoidable mistakes. Most of the problems seem to be the result of Wiggington's ego and need to control. He is so lucky he has a board of incompetents covering up for him otherwise he might have lost his job back in 2007 starting with the mailing of ballots and promoting someone whose NSF fees he backed ou.
Mornonic Wiggy has gotten away with so many dirty tricks, shenanigans and just plain incompetence for years without losing ng his job.
That pretty much explains why he always has a perpetual goofball smirk on his face. He knows he's gotten away when th murder!
Wiggington is a sissy. Really. The man is the biggest coward I ever met but what gave him a pair of fictitious balls is that he always hid behind Human Resources, actually Miss Rodger Smock. He also found protection from the Board, actually Diedra Harris-Brooks and her band of dumbasses. Most credit unions would have not tolerated his incompetence. I also believe that members who care about their credit union would have never tolerated a board like Priority One's lowlife ghetto board.
Wiggington needs to take a few dollars and invest in a mirror and recorder. Maybe the problem is he can't see himself or hear himself. It might be uncomfortable, it might be painful but they do say the truth will set you free.
In addition to being nominated for the prestigious Good Governance Award, Charles Wiggington has been singled out by the California Credit Union Society of Professionals for his expertise in administrative excellence. Our Committee applauds CEO Wiggington for achieving peer recognition in garnering the highly sought after Filene Trophy.
Congratulations.
Does anyone else think that the so-called "Committee for Vindication" is full of bull crap and more than a little insane? Yes, Wiggington or Wiggles as he's tenderly referred to, has been singled out by the entire credit union industry though not for his expertise as president but for his vast incompetence and ignorance. The only peers who support him are useless, Robert West, even more useless, Rodger Smock, and the entire almost all black board with its leader, Diedra "Bucky Beaver" Harris Brooks.
Business is slow. Loan funding is adequate but its not enough to bring us profit or cause growth. And budgets are so low that accounting struggles to pay the credit union bills. Don't believe it? Check with the accounting department or its staff. But whatever little money is made is being swallowed up in huge gulps by spending on legal. We don't spend much on marketing as you can tell and we don't spend on participating in chapter and community events but what we do spend on is lawyers.
Is it true the Accounting Dept has been given "marching orders" directly from Wiggy (smirking jackass) to hold off on paying all bills as long as possible due to a cash crunch? Vendors are not getting paid in a timely manner and they're pissed. Thanks Wiggy, for driving P1 into the ground.
That started in 2010 when Saeid Raad was CFO. He instructed all the accounting clerks to not pay bills for 4 to 8 weeks because the credit union did not have the money to pay its bills on time. 5 years later, they still delay payments forcing them to have to deal with vendors calling demanding payments. Wiggington lies and lies and lies about business getting better but all the signs show things are getting worse. He also holds back payments because his #1 goal is to make sure net capital stays well above 6%. You have to wonder, where will he cut back next?
Saeid was brought in by Bea Walker. He was one of her friends in the industry. At the time, she and Wiggington (and Smock) chased off Manny the CFO by ostracizing him. Bea hated Manny and told the board that he wasn't a team player because he didn't want to cooperate with her plans and Wiggington's that would help turn business around. Now Bea was cut from the same fabricate as Wiggington. Just as corrupt, just as horrible. When she brought Saeid in, it was because he would do whatever she and Wiggington wanted and he did. He got hired to supposedly work temporarily while Wiggington and Bea looked for a new CFO. 2 months later and after telling Diedra that Saeid is cooperative and wonderful, he gets offered the job which he accepts. This is the same old method always used by management at the credit union. In late 2009, Smock begins to "interview" employees for the job of call enter supervisor. In January 2010, the job goes temporarily to Joseph Garcia. Bea had Joseph in mind from the start. The interviews were purely for show to appear the credit union was being impartial but if you know Smock, you know that's a load of bull chips. After 2 weeks, they announce its been decided to keep Joseph as permanent call center supervisor. And as time proved, he couldn't handle the job.
Now what I always find suspicious is that Saeid remains CFO through 2010 thru 2012 but gets fired just about the time its decided they're going to have to close the Airport and Santa Clarita branches and immediately after they get wind that money has been stolen from the Los Angeles branch though at that time, they had no idea what the amount was.
What's also suspicious is that Wiggington hired Cindy Garvin as director of lending but in actuality gave her control over all branches. She was the COO without the title. She does what he tells her to do but her problem was that she was dealing with a mess no single person could fix. At that time, she was trying to unravel more than 4 years of mess created by Wiggington, by Diedra and even by Smock who was operations from 2007 to 2009. Cindy ends up getting fired at the end of 2012, at about the same time the credit union is starting realize that internal robberies have taken place at the Los Angeles branch though when they fired her they weren't really sure how much was stolen.
Another thing that is strange is that internal auditor, Diane Huffman goes to the Los Angeles office in February 2013 and after 3 days finds that cash (more than $1 million) was stolen by AVP, Lynnette, during the years of 2010 to 2012. Now could Diane perform a thorough in depth audit in three days? Now its true that Turner, Warren, Hwang and Conrad came in and did their own audit which CUMIS and the credit union say was out of compliance with audit standards but what kind of audit did Priority One perform that was sufficient for them to fire Lynnette? Something stinks, sorry, something always stinks at Priority One Credit Union and you've got to question the reasons why Saeid and Cindy got the boot just about the time branches closed and news came that cash had been stolen from the LA office and you really have to wonder about the type of audit that was done that could in a measly 3 days conclude more than $1 million were stolen. My guess is that much more than $1 million were stolen and that if you look deep enough you're going to discover other thefts by other people who are not Lynnette.
Wiggy wins the Filene Trophy for administrate excellence?
I don't believe it. If Wiggy has this so-called prestigious Filene Trophy let him show it to the entire P1 staff.
Wiggy, If you have a Trophy for excellence I'll buy you and your uncle combo meals at Fat Burger.
Oh yeah, wipe the smirk off your ugly puss.
I don't think Wiggles could win a blue ribbon at the county fair.
@ Anonymous: There is something suspect about the incidents at Priority One. Wiggington and the board probably used Saeid and Cindy as scapegoats for their failures. Saeid was not responsible for business development. That is Wiggington's baby but Wiggington eliminated the business development team and he eliminated the marketing department because he said he had a better way of doing business but clearly, he doesn't because nothing he's done has helped the credit union. In fact, what he does damages the credit union. Saeid was the person who targeted which branches would close but closing branches was Wiggington's idea. He started closing branches when net capital fell to just above 6% and after the auditors told him that he had better cut expenses or the credit union could be taken over.
Cindy, like her predecessor, Bea Walker, was hired to bring in new business and to identify enemy employees. The problem which Cindy encountered was that she wen to work for a credit union where the president is crazy. This is a credit union where back-stabbing is just a normal part of every workday. She also went to work at a credit union that has a highly constricted budget for developing business. She was basically asked to get water from a turnip. Because of the timing when she got terminated, it is possible Wiggington decided to use her as a scapegoat for the thefts in Los Angeles because she had been given the responsibility of overseeing operations for all branches. Whether you like or dislike Cindy, she was over-burdened by this madman. She was in charge of loan development. She was in charge of marketing. She was in charge adverting. She was also in charge of operations. He also had her collect employee cell phones when the credit union could no longer afford to pay for these.
Wiggington and the board, actually Diedra, probably did use Saeid and Cindy as scapegoats and blamed them for failures they had no responsibility in. They probably fired Cindy before knowing that $1 million had been stolen. They probably never imagined that a single person could ever the branch vault and walk out with $1 million in cash over a period of what is just a few months.
@ Anonymous: There is something suspect about the incidents at Priority One. Saeid and Cindy were probably used as scapegoats for Wiggington's and the board's failures. Saeid was NOT responsible for business development, that was Wiggington's and Rodger's baby. Wiggington is the person who eliminated the business development and marketing departments but Wiggington is immature and his decisions based on whim and what he thinks is true. Might not have any foundation of fact but its his reality.
Saeid is the person who targeted which branches would close but closing branches was not his idea. Wiggington started closing branches because net capital fell to just above 6% and the auditors warned him that he had better cut expenses or the credit union could be taken over.
Cindy, like her predecessor, Bea Walker, was hired to bring in new business and identify enemy employees. The problem which Cindy inherited is that she went to work for a crazy person. Priority One is a credit union where back-stabbing is a normal part of every workday. That's who Wiggington is and that's what he's created. And you have an impotent HR department that allows abuses and violations of laws. Backstabbing is just a symptom of the disease at the credit union.
Cindy worked with a highly constricted budget to develop business. She was basically asked to get water from a turnip. The time line does suggest that she was probably blamed for the thefts at the Los Angeles branch. She got terminated just after the credit union became aware that money had been embezzled though at the time, they had no idea it was all cash and over $1 million. Cindy was also over-burdened. Wiggington gave her the responsibility of overseeing operations for all branches, of overseeing loan development, marketing, adverting and numerous other small projects like collecting employee cell phones when the credit union could no longer afford to pay for these. Like her or not, she was misused and abused and for awhile, she got swept into Wiggington's madness.
Wiggington and the board, actually Diedra, probably did use Saeid and Cindy as scapegoats.
When they fired Cindy, they probably had no idea that more than $1 million in cash had been stolen from the Los Angeles vault. That wouldn't come out until a few months later and from there, everything has been going downhill.
Whatever happened to Smock's Rectal Feeding Tube Diet? Smock and Wiggy were even seeking out investors for jtheir clinics.
As I recall, Rodger was gonna lose a ton of weight and then become the spokesperson for a chain of Rectal Feederie Weight Loss Clinics.
Rodger can't lose weight. He doesn't have the personal discipline. Luckily, he has enough income to support that special someone he's got at home. Wiggington used to say that Rodger wore the biggest pants he'd ever seen. I agree. Of course, Wiggington has the biggest mouth and nerve I've ever seen.
I wonder if Saeid will be called to testify? He was coo when this money was stolen. He could provide information about security and how the credit union keeps track of vault cash. They could call Manny too because he can testify how Wiggungtin wanted to report profits when there wasn't any.
What's going to come first- the credit union goes to court or they merge with another credit union?
Or shuts down? Name one thing Priority One offers that benefits members?
At least there nose diving at a smooth pace. Unlike Mr Harris, Wiggington has had to rely on a long, long list of consultants. In 2007, he hired consultants to push the company into the 29th century. That failed. In 2008, he met with consultants and chose a really expensive phone system to prove to the industry that there was no bigger, badder captain of industry than himself. The system failed. 2009, he told the board that hiring a COO would not only improve business but exterminate employee who hated him. That failed. Employees still hate him and the board. Then in 2011, he fires the COO. He hired consultants in 2011 then hired new ones in 2012, then he hired more in 2013 and 2014, and now he's hired another group to help bring in loans. Seems the man who used to go around telling everyone just how great he was is actually another big failure just like Bea Walker and Joseph Garcia. The biggest success story at Priority One is that an AVP walked out with $1 million in cash without anyone noticing. Maybe that AVP should be president.
Have the most recent lending consultants increased loan volume as promised?
You ask what is one thing Priority One offers that benefits members - free food on payday Friday's. Oh wait, schmuck Wiggy discontinued that benefit a while back so he could line his own pockets with a hefty bonus.
No, the consultants that they pay each year have never, not once (double negatives are intentional) ever improved business. The revamped webpage was the idea of consultants who promised it would bring in new business. Unless the webpage is magical, it couldn't and didn't. The same consultants decided that pummeling the internet with Wiggington and Smock's biographies would help turn business around. Again, unless the biographies were magical, they didn't do a thing to help increase business. Besides free food on Payday Fridays, oh wait, you're right Wiggles eliminated that because it was negatively impacting the credit union's financials. Here's some other ideas to improve business:
1. The services of an in-house financial planner. Oh wait, Wiggles got rid of that in 2010.
2. How about a newsletter that can keep members informed about the credit union's wonderful array of products and services? Man, oh man, they got rid of that too just a couple of years ago.
3. FREE financial education. Its a wonderful way to show people you care by providing a FREE service. Oh man, I forgot Wiggles stopped that in 2007 just after he became president.
4. Participating in community events and attending chamber of commerce luncheons or chapter meetings. Nothing let's people know your credit union is still around, then letting your presence be known. I forgot, Wiggington stopped this in 2010 because he said it was too expensive and the credit union couldn't afford it.
My only question is how could a broke ass credit union that can't afford to buy Styrofoam cups for its employees or given annual raises somehow find the money to keep giving the dumbest, most obnoxious, and crass president in all credit union land, raises and annual bonuses?
Saturating the Internet with Wiggy and Smock's bios is a great way to build business. The consultants really need to double-down on their brilliant marketing scheme by juicing up the Internet with Diedra's, Yvonne's and Robert West's biographies -- then loan volume will really skyrocket. Give it a try Wiggy, it'll be money well spent.
At Priority One, overkill is the crux of their strategies. You would think that Wiggington and the board might have asked consultants how publishing the president's and executive vice president's bios all over the Internet was going to produce new business. If you remember the credit union's old webpage, it functioned well and was attractive and employed the credit union's corporate colors. The current page reeks of an arts and crafts projects and links don't always provide information you seek. For example, look at their history page. The only reference to their history is that the credit union opened in 1926. After that, they write about what a wonderful credit union they are. Obviously neither Wiggington, Smock or the board know what defines history.
I agree, the credit union needs to add Diedra's, Yvonne's and Robert West's impressive biographies on the internet. That is sure to ignite loan funding. And please also include O. Glen Saffold's biography. He should include that he's never been able to pass the state bar exam and that though he claims to be a Christian, he believes the White man setup O.J. Simpson. And Diedra should include that she attended the University of Phoenix where she took computer classes." She never did state if she got her degree in "computer classes." If she says she did, remember to ask to see it because this woman is a compulsive liar.
Right now they're using Groove Car to help them with getting car loans. Its not that there's anything wrong with Groove Car but the problem is Wiggington and the board. So where is all his supposed know-how to get new business that he's bragged about for years. Mr Harris knew how to set up promotions and conduct campaigns and we had a GREAT marketing department but this moron knows absolutely nothing. Instead of learning from Mr Harris, he spent years playing around, gabbing on the phone, playing on the internet, gossiping and sexually harassing. Its no wonder they have had to hire so many consultants.
A receptionist steals more than $60,000, an AVP steals more than a million in cash, Wiggington steals a members car, Bea Walker charged a $5000 laptop to the credit unions VISa, and Diedra guzzled booze at a Las Vegas bar paid for by credit union money. Sounds like everyone got a piece of the pie.
Bucky Beaver Diedra also insists on getting her daily food allowance in casino chips whenever she has P1 book her a Vegas conference. That's exactly the kind of marketing that should be broadcasted all over the Internet to boost membership among her fellow grifters.
Clearly, Rodger Smock's "marketing" expertise have proven a failure at Priority One. He needs to pack up his things, retire, and he and his boyfriend head off to Costa Rica where they can open a bar.
Plastering Wiggy's and Smock's bio's all over the Internet is one of the most creative and brilliant marketing promotions in the history of mankind. But why limit it to these two outstanding credit union professionals! I think P1 needs to expand their Internet reach to include all Board and senior staff biographies. I can think of no better way to attract new members while juicing up business!
You guys have it all wrong. Diedra wasn't just sitting in the corner of the casino bar challenging strangers to see who could guzzle down the most tequila shooters in 5 seconds. In between swigs of burning alcohol, she'd talk to them about how becoming members of Priority One.
This comment was posted on October 6, 2010. I thought it was interesting because it reveals how things really were in 2010 and how they still are at Priority One
"...They cut hours for a lot of employees from 40 to 20 and take away their med benefits. They're getting ready to close 2 branches to save money on rent. They stopped buying supplies and are really strict about reimbursements. They don't spend much money promoting their products and those poor board members haven't been able to go to Vegas, Europe or Hawaii since Wiggington became president. Of course they have enough money to pay Saeid [the CFO] so he was able to get himself a house and buy new furniture. They have enough money to hire Randy McBride [IT} and they have enough money to pay him the 6 weeks vacation he's taken the last 5 months. They have enough money to pay Charles Wiggington and Bea Walker, the 2 people who have most hurt business. They have enough money to rent a hall and for a meeting that was so shoooooort!!! And I thought they were just acting stupid."
Guess some things never change.
@Bozo he Clown
Bozo, I like your thinking here.
May I piggyback on your idea. I suggest Priority One saturate So. Pasadena and the surrounding area with billboards featuring Wiggy, Rodger and Diedra's faces. The This is sure to boost business. And it would be money well spent.
I concur whole heartedly. Nothing is going to impress people more than reading about the outstanding achievements and lofty positions held by Wiggington, Smock, West, Boutte, Diedra, O. Glen, and the other board members. If people are on the fence about joining the credit union, the bios are exactly what is needed to get them to say yes to Priority One.
The billboard idea is pure genius, though it might not hurt to go heavy on the make-up. Can you imagine Wiggington's stupid grin, Smock's grandma face, Diedra's Bucky Beaver smile and Yvonne's Wiley Coyote grin blazing billboards across South Pasadena? For years they wasted money on useless consultants, a failed call center, on remodeling, on detectives, and on shyster lawyers. Isn't it time to spend money on a sure thing and on something that's actually going to bring in throngs of people who will be dying to join the credit union? Back in 2012, Wiggington told us that he didn't need to advertise the Santa Clarita office because "People are going to want to join us!" Yes, the branch closed but that's probably has nothing to do with the fact that he never promoted the location.
I think the South Pasadena branch can also conduct car washes. For the men, Yvonne Boutte, Alex Suarez, and Patti Loiacano can dress in bikinis and wash cars while handing out fliers promoting auto and personal loans.
For the women, Wiggington, Rodger Smock and Robert West can wear speedos and while washing cars, invite women to come into the office and apply for loans.
Or, they can all dress like the statue of liberty and while dancing on the street, wave signs that say "Auto Loans. Low APR." The sky's the limit for Wiggington and his crew. Its also a great way to release some of the that penned up sexual aggression that got him in trouble back in 2008.
Putting Bucky Beaver Diedra's face on a billboard will set just the right tone to attract new members, especially those who are admiring fans of her lookalike Slappy White. So that's a great idea.
But I have serious reservations about putting Wiggy's shitty smirk on a billboard. I'm afraid word might leak that he's a sexual harasser, which would surely turn off prospective members. How about hiring that Subway guy Jared Fogel for the billboards instead. Jared's got plenty of time on his hands since he's now out of a job, and he has a much better reputation than Wiggy?
Yes, Diedra's mug is sure to bring in business. What person wouldn't want to become a member after seeing that over-bite? Maybe they can air commercials. To reduce expenses, maybe these could be telecast after 1 a.m. on some obscure cable channel. That'll bring in the business!
Now if they can get Cornelia to stand next to Diedra, that's sure to get the crowd that misses Red Fox. There's no way this can fail.
I'd agree, Wiggles reputation is bad and that arrogant smirk would really drive potential business away. Jerod would be a great replacement. How about O.J.? Too bad Leona Helmsley isn't alive anymore.Can anyone suggest something from the animal kingdom?
In my professional opinion Wiggington is a toxic leader, liar and a sociopath. He retaliated personally against employees who question him. When things go wrong he never takes responsibility for his actions (like the telephone system), but he is quick to scapegoat others. He publically denigrates employees who disagree with him. He hired private investigators wasting piles of money trying to uncover commentors on this blog. He has a complete lack of empathy for others - he is only concerned with self-promotion and lining his pockets. Even after he was proven to be a sexual harasser he blames the victim while hiring shyster lawyers to cover for his actions. After all this, he has a complete lack of shame. The man is a delusional paranoid.
Some say Wiggington has run Priority One into the ground. I beg to differ, he has run Priority One into a ditch.
@ Dr. Zsigmundy Freud:
He is a toxic leader. Unlike a competent leader, he reacts. He hasn't had a single good idea since the day he became president. He "believed" that creating AVPs was the answer to getting in huge amounts of business. So he promoted Liz Campos who was the branch manager at Burbank but who would arrive to work at 10 a.m. and leave at 3 pm. She would also take a 90 minute lunch per day and she was bouncing checks and borrowing money from co-workers. BTW, intentionally writing back checks and borrowing money from co-works is against CU policy but Wiggles let her get away with it and he eve backed out all her NSF fees. In those days member services needed the approval of the VP of Opertions to reverse NSF fees.
He promoted Sylvia Perez, the branch manager of Van Nuys. She was caustic to employees, a liar, a control freak but she was also Wiggles' friend.
He promoted Aaron Cavazos the Lending Director. For years employees had complained that Aaron was abuse, that he continually made inappropriate sexualized comments to employees and that he would take lunches that sometimes extended 2 to 3 hours. He would often return to work drunk but for some reason, Wiggles promoted him to AVP.
Wiggles also had this super stupid idea to print up badges that had the words, ASK ME printed on them. He stood in front of employees during an all staff meeting and announced that the badges were going to bring in new business and said he got the idea while sitting at home. Was he sitting at home smoking pot or had he taken a tab of LSD because no one, not even the file clerks could understand how a stupid badge would bring in new business. Guess what? The badges didn't work. Big surprise, huh?
Wiggles is paranoid neurotic. He went after so many employees who he "thought" were his enemies. But his paranoia was fueled by Miss Rodger Smock who is a caddy, back-stanbbing, two-faced Queen. She/he knew how to work Wiggles and would run and tell him who was planning to backstab El Presidente. Yes, Miss Rodger lied but it allowed her to get close to Wiggles who trusted her every word.
Back 2009, he told us that he installed 18 cameras to dissuade people from coming to his office with a gun to shoot him. What evidence did he have that someone was going to try and shoot him. Frankly, he's not worth the time. In 2010, he hired an armed guard to attend the annual meeting. He told the board and supervisors that trouble was a brewing and that someone was going to cause trouble during the meeting. He again went by what he believed to be true. I've always thought that he should stop listening to the invisible troll that only he sees. For years I've said something is wrong with Wiggles. No sane person acts the way he does. At least no person who has a sense of right and wrong. He really lives in a world of his own where he has elevated himself to such importance that he truly does believe people are jealous of him and want what he thinks he has. And he really believes people are out to get him. His sexual harassing, his stealing a member's car, and his slandering of people make him the dangerous one to employees and he has kicked the credit union into a ditch and is now piling dirt on it.
Do you ever wonder if Wiggington is sorry he opened his mouth so many times? I know he doesn't feel shame like someone that has a human heart, but I wonder if he just regrets opening his big mouth. And I know Diedra backs him up but in the past she and the attorneys told him to shut up, that's why he stopped talking about the employees that sued him and the credit union.
@Anonymous
Several of you recommend Jared from Subway might be a better billboard frontman for P1 than Wiggy. Some say OJ would be better than Wiggy. Well it appears Jared is gonna plead guilty to child porn. OJ is already serving prison time after being judged guilty.
In a stroke of marketing genius Don Draper suggests placing all of their smirking visages (Wiggy, Jared & OJ) on Priority One billboards throughout the county. A saturation campaign would surely garner lots of publicity for P1.
Well, placing their pictures alongside one another might actually help turn business around. Maybe the photos should be accompanied by a question like, "Can you identify Charles Wiggington?" I wonder how many people might mistake him for OJ?
PS
You can also have photos of Smock, W.C. Fields and a drawing of a Yeti with the caption, "Which one is Smock?"
Don't leave Diedra out. A picture of her, Redd Fox and Moms Mabley.
And a pic of Cornelia Simmons photo alongside that of Dr Zaius and an old shoe.
Sadly, these are all great ideas for P1. They're better than Wiggington's badge idea and better than his "no promoting branches" idea. And way better than his "Let's replace postal worker members with SEGs." And of course his $5.00 charge to provide members who call the credit union for their balance.
Funny how none of Wiggys marketing plans ever work out and most are outright costly failures.
Now it's pure irony that Bozo the Clown and Don Draper come up with a brilliant plan to promote P1 via billboard saturation throughout the county.
Why can't Wiggy or some of crony high paid consultants come up with innovative and successful marketing plans?
Why not get Bozo to race Wiggy? Bozo is better looking, friendlier and no one has ever accounted that clown of sexual harassment.
Consultants who are hired always research their client so its no secret that Priority One has a sucky reputation. You have to wonder if ideas like bombarding Wiggington's biography across the Internet is just a way for them to gauge the credit union for money. Obviously, any strategies introduced by consultants don't work or they're not put to use by the dummies at the credit union.
And yes, Bozo is better looking and might I say, sexier than Wiggington could ever be. And of course, he's never sexually harassed anyone nor stolen a clown car.
Talking about clown cars, have you ever seen Wiggington's BMW's?
I particularly like the little convertible. He likes driving down Fair Oaks towards the credit union, the top down, wearing his Herrigbone Ivy Cap. His expression says it all, "I don't live in reality."
I wish Priority One would hire me as a consultant.
BTW, if they misappropriate spending, how are they supposed to help members financially?
Funny how none of Wiggys marketing plans ever work out and most are outright costly failures.
I have to agree, Wiggington and Diedra, the real CEO, have been digging deep into the credit union ledgers pulling out loads and loads of money to pay for consultants who have failed to improve business or make Priority One look pretty. I don't think giving Bozo the Clown, hell, Pinhead and Chuckie (not Wigglington's son) and Don Draper a chance. I'm sure you'd get better quality and more effective promotions. And please oh please, remove Wiggington's bio from the internet. Its not going to bring in new business and its an eye sore.
Wiggington has never had the cranial capacity to come up with innovative marketing. He thinks marketing is limited to picking a graphic and adding some language. Seriously, when we used to attend meetings with him and human paper weight, Rodger Smock, their ideas for marketing were limited to advertising. Same for Diedra who actually used to review advertising. I don't know why she thought she was qualified to review advertising when she's not qualified to review a grocery list.
I concur, Diedra's is not qualified to review a grocery list. On the other hand, Smock is over-qualified when reviewing a grocery list, a KFC menu and especially Golden Corral's lunch and dinner buffet offerings.
Smock used to share recipes with the other girls. I don't know how I didn't associate his tonnage with his only love in life- food.
@ Jeff Foxworthy. I think you may have inadvertently discovered the one thing Smock is good at. Its not cooking but it is eating. I wonder what Wiggington and West are good at?
'Smock might be the worst, most dishonest, back-stabbing HR director imaginable but no one knows how to whip up a deep fried twinkly burger like he does.
Smock "might be"? No, he's the worst. He's the reason why morale fell apart at the credit union. He broke policies and he broke laws. That's why the credit union got sued by 4 ex-employees and that's why the credit union settled. Wasn't Smock the one that was carrying on like a 19 year old girl with one of the young male employees? Wasn't it Smock who was serving female employees liquor while they swam at his house? Wasn't it Smock who let Aaron Cavazos get away with abusing employees? Wasn't it Smock who let Georgina break rules that should have got her fired? Wasn't it Smock who never told Wiggington that it was against policy for him to invite a girl to straddle his lap so that he could whip her ass? Yes, Wiggington is corrupt but Smock is as corrupt. Two horrible, unethical, dishonest men. Men? Who knows what they are.
What happened to the days when you could tar and feather something like Wiggington, Diedra and Smock, throw them on a freight car and wave good-bye as they disappeared into the horizon?
A lot of us still want to hold a Tar and Feathering Party with Wiggy being the guest of honor. Now I would like to add Smock as a co-guest of honor. Priority One's two most distinguished lying backstabbers not only deserve a T&F Party but after the those festivities they need to be run out of town on a rail.
There are some logistical problems. First, how much tar and feathers are needed for Smock. And how many people will it take to boost him on to the freight cart?
The problem with Wiggington is not so much covering his body but how much tar and feathers are needed to cover his big mouth.
And what about Diedra? After all, she's the real CEO and the one person who okay'd ruining Priority One.
By all means Diedra must be thrown into the mix with Wiggy and Smock. Of course, we'd need a very large tar kettle along with a humongous amount of feathers to do a proper job But the end result would make the whole T&F party worth the cost.
I'd chip in.
Bares repeating:
Stuart P. said...
By all means Diedra must be thrown into the mix with Wiggy and Smock. Of course, we'd need a very large tar kettle along with a humongous amount of feathers to do a proper job But the end result would make the whole T&F party worth the cost.
I ran into Wiggy at a Credit Union function a while back. I can confirm he eats food with his mouth wide open - gross. And he constantly has a shit-eating smirk on his ugly puss.
You can't blame Wiggy for smirking. He's got that smug self-satisfied smirk because he knows he's ripping-off the credit union with a huge assist from Bucky Beaver Dieda.
Wigg's smug but stupid expression back in 2007 was probably because he inherited a $172 million credit union with many branches. He was cocky and bragged how he had a better way than Mr Harris because he somehow understood marketplaces.
Nowadays the smirk if probably the result of senility because on some level he's got to know that he's a useless dumbass who's ruined Priority 1. Of course, it could just be the look of a delusional person who is so out of touch from reality that he can't bare to see what he's caused.
Did the feds audit the credit union last week?
Audit? Why would you ask?
I've seen Wiggy at many CU functions over the past several years. But I've never had the "pleasure" of meeting Rodger Smock.
Just curious, which of these two distinguished gentlemen is more deceitful?
That's a tough question to answer as they're both scum.
Wiggington's Acts
1. Repossessed a member's car, transferred ownership to himself and never paid a cent for the vehicle plus he caused the member to incur a negative reference on his credit report. After what he did was exposed, he spread rumors that he bought the car from a dealership even though DMV records show it went from the member to him with no reference to a dealer.
2. Wiggington broke federal law and sexually harassed an employee. During the investigation, he and Diedra said the employee made him sexually harass her.
3.Since 2010, he's been reporting profits where none exist. He sometimes transfers money from the CU's GLs.
4. He lied and said he never met Bea Walker before she got hired but 1 year before she was hired, Bea and Wiggington were seen leaving Appleby's in Alhambra.
5. He said that he lost all of Riverside County because Mr Harris merged with a bad credit union.
6. He told investigators that he had no idea that his AVP, Liz Campos, was kiting but all the NSF fees she incurred were all reversed by him. He later said he didn't reverse them, member services did but member services could not have done it without his authorization.
These are just some of Wiggington's cons.
Roger Smock's Acts
1. He knew Wiggington was sexually harassing an employee but he refused to intercede.
2. He had an affair with Henry even though policy prohibits that type of fraternizing.
3. He boozed up a bunch of female employees at his house and didn't care that they went home inebriated.
4. He used lies concocted by Sylvia Perez to fire David C. from the Van Nuys office. She wanted David C fired because when he replaced her at Van Nuys he discovered that she had not trained her staff to perform mandatory banking procedures. She concocted phony evidence and Rodger knowingly fired David C.
5. Sylvia concocted phony evidence about Carol, a business development represaentative and she and Rodger used the phony evidence to fire Carol.
6. Rodger let Georgina and Gema violate policy and laws. The women lifted a mandatory hold on a check so that Georgina could withdraw the money and the check bounced. Both women spent years stealing from the credit union, having employees clock them in whenever they took 2 to 3 hour lunches. That is fraud and Smock covered it up. From 2006 to 2009, the 2 women took two 45 minute breaks a day and Rodger knew and allowed them even though he wrote-up other employees who abused their break privileges and he fired several employees who committed fraud.
7. Rodger made up stories about numerous employees and Wiggington used Rodger's "gossip" to fire those employees.
I'm not sure who is worse because they both stink to high heaven.
I found Rodger tolerable when I first started working there though the very first thing I realized was that he wasn't as nice as he pretends to be. He has a temper which he tries to hide but at times it bursts open. He prides himself on being a diplomat and peacemaker but thats a lie he tells people and one he uses to delude himself. He's anal. He's obsessive compulsive. He's a vicious backstabber. He lies. He breaks rules. He has no sense of morality. He dislikes Christians because he believes that they are out to get homosexuals like himself. It's hypocritical because he believes Christians are judgmental but Mr. Hypocrite labels Christians, judges and condemns them. Shows how much he knows about Christians. Robert West isn't a problem for Mr. Smock because West is not a real Christian. He's an interloper who talks the walk.
For years I watched Rodger bend the rules for employees he liked and enforce them for employees he didn't like. He is a compromiser carrying out Wiggington's and Diedra'a evil and illegal plans. He has no problem with slandering reputations, getting rid of people using trumped up charges and he has no problem breaking policy. He does however rationalize his heinous acts because in his mind he's a good person but old grandpa is evil and because he's smarter than Wiggington, he is ultra evil.
Stuart P. I am surprised you've never seen or met Rodger when you've seen Wiggington. Often, Wiggington is accompanied by Rodger particularly when Wiggington supposedly was undergoing cancer treatment. In those days, Smock would drive Wiggington to events and hover over him like a mother hen- a really big mastadonian mother hen. He used to run to get Wiggington food and beverages. Kind of weird that Wiggington was eating and drinking so much when he was supposedly suffering with cancer. Ah, but that's a subject for another post. Smock stopped driving Wiggington around when it came out on this blog that they were driving together to events and when people questioned just how sick Wiggington really was. Either Wiggington didn't like the fact people thought Rodger was pandering to him like a concubine or he didn't want to be associated with anything gay. Wiggington actually doesn't care for Wiggington. He's often made comments in the past about why men choose to be gay and how he can't understand why they are attracted to other men. Strangely enough, before he was found guilty of sexual harassment, Wiggington used to love putting his arms around the guys in the office and rubbing their chests and squeezing their shoulders. You could tell a lot of guys were uncomfortable but Wiggington never seemed to notice, just like he didn't notice that the former employee didn't like his offers to whip her ass.
What you said - "Wiggington doesn't actually doesn't care for Wiggington." That's true, Wiggington doesn't care for himself at all. It's understandable since Wiggy's a loathsome person who betrays everyone but Diedra.
Smock also doesn't care for Wiggington. In fact, no one cares for Wiggington except for the toady kiss-asses that dubbed themselves the Committee For Vindication.
LOL. That's what I get for not proofreading. What I meant was, "Wiggington doesn't care for gays" but obviously his behaviors hint that he may suffer from self-loathing. I don't think Wiggington has many friends (big surprise). For years, he and Smock and some of Smock's friends would go and watch baseball. Now, one might think that Wiggington is so objective and non-judgmental that Mr. Open-Minded didn't mind going to watch the Dodgers with Smock. But for years, Wiggington made comments about how he couldn't understand how Rodger chose to be gay or how he could sleep with other males. That kind of dispels that he has an objective attitude. Then again, for years he slanders his staff, mocking their abilities, intelligence, looks, the cars they drive, ect., so it is highly unlikely that he chooses to hang with Smock except that he has no other person who can tolerate him outside of work.
Back in 2007, before he was accused of sexual harassment, he got tired of Diedra dropping by the South Pasadena office unannounced and entering his office or the board room without an appointment or without first calling. She tried doing this with Mr. Harris, but he put her in her place and she learned she needed to call and make an appointment before traipsing into the main branch. Wiggington got so fed up he periodically told us, "I'm tired of that bitch sticking her nose in my business." He may have been tired but he never told her to her face. After she reinstated him and covered up the evidence that proved he sexually harassed, he never complained again. After all, he signed his soul over to a devil.
Maybe 2008 or 2009, we had a temporary employee named Anwar, who worked in the loan department. He was a nice guy and he worked well. One day, Aaron the old Loan Manager sends him to go and work in Van Nuys because Sylvia Perez was short staffed. He ended up staying at that office. Now as a temp, he had no authority to approve loans. All he did was process new applications. Neelam was the assistant branch manager at the time and she was a close friend of Sylvia Perez. Neelman was never to smart, that's why they drove her out of the credit union. She approved a bunch of loans and they all became delinquent. When they audited the loans they discovered that none of the members should have been approved for a loan because they didn't meet the credit union's eligibility requirements.
The fault was 100% Neelam but like I wrote previously, she was Sylvia's friend and Sylvia was Wiggington's friend. Wiggington and Aaron drive down to Van Nuys where they tell Anwar that he is being fired, actually his assignment is being terminated because he processed loans for the delinquent members. It should have been Neelam who should have been laid-off or fired, not Anwar but Wiggington needed a scapegoat plus he didn't want to fire Neelman because AT THE TIME, she was friends with his then buddy, Sylvia Perez. That was the first time he looked for scapegoats for HIS failures. If Wiggington was the captain of a sinking ship, he'd push women and children aside and even trample them as he forced his way on to a life boat.
On a side note, Sylvia left the credit union in 2012. She claimed to be ill but the fact is, she was going to be fired because in a 3 month period, she never made her monthly goal of $150,000. And though she had been Wiggington's friend, in 2012, Diedra wanted her fired because Sylvia had been telling employees of the Burbank branch that Wiggington was not returning her calls, that she knew she was going to be fired, and that the credit union had abandoned her. Sylvia, by the way, was not only one of the most evil people to work at Priority One, she was a compulsive liar who made up lots of stories that she used to fire employees. She was also not very educated.
Neelam also left the credit union in 2014 after she learned Wiggington needed to fire her. Guess she lost her good standing with Wiggington who should also have been fired for all his years of failures.
Does the TWHC trial start this week?
I hope a nervous Wiggy doesn't soil himself when he testifies - that would really stink up the court and piss-off the Judge. Plus, it's kind of embarrassing for his staunch supporters on the Committee For Vindication.
I think they're attending yet another of more than 2 dozen meetings to iron out motions that every side has filed. So for the moment, it looks like the next meeting is to try and determine if the court will allow Priority One to move forward with its lawsuit against TWHC or if their request will be denied. If denied, then its CUMIS against P1. CUMIS might needed the credit union's request to be approved to help them out with their own case. Like someone posted last month, CUMIS is going after TWHC because they have deep pockets. But they're going to have to prove that TWHC's bad audits somehow created the opportunity for the theft of $1 million in cash. I'm not an attorney, but that seems like a big stretch.If How is TWHC held accountable for thefts if its audits that did not comply with audit standards? The thefts started before TWHC performed it audits and continued AFTER TWHC performed its audits. If they are found to be negligent then it is for not detecting the thefts but they did not perpetrate the thefts. That allegedly was Lynnette Fortson. And that should also be Priority that has security measures in place to stop this type of incident from occurring but in 24- months Priority One never noticed that money was being taken from the vault. TWHC couldn't be present at the L.A. branch 24/7 but Priority One could. So why did Charles Wiggington, the board and the supervisory committee never notice a single theft?
Wiggington and Smock are keeping extra quiet with Wiggington telling people that everything is "great" and business is good which doesn't explain why the loan department is being pushed to get loans. A friend in loans told me that the pipeline is full of approved loans but members aren't coming into fund them. Stupid Wiggington and yes, stupid, is so incompetent that he thinks the solution is getting more loans approved. Here's some news for Mr. Braindead, what the credit union needs is members who fund their loans not getting in more approvals that go nowhere. Wiggington doesn't get it because he's either that stupid or he's cranially challenged. Now Wiggington and the credit union have a lot of nerve of accusing TWHC of violating accounting practices when Wiggington is a major scofflaw. The loan department is not terminating loan applications that are more than 30 days old. They are holding on to them and leaving them in XP as active. Problem is that if a member should ever want to fund a loan thta was approved more than 30 days ago, their credit report will have to be run again because they might have gotten negatives on their credit report since they were first approved. I have no idea why Wiggington thinks it looks good to keep old approved but not funded loans in the que when they don't represent new business. They are potential new business but once they are 30 days old, they're dead and useless. Wiggington is the town moron.
Three former co-workers told me about how they each got fired.
The first was called into a meeting with Smock and Sylvia and they handed him a bunch of fraudulent warnings that he'd never seen. He argued that not only the warnings untrue, they had not been shown to him prior to his termination meeting. He said Smock had glazed over eyes and never responded and couldn't make eye contact. He let Sylvia lie and then handed the employee his final check.
The other employee was also fired by Smock and Sylvia but the accusations were made by Wiggington. She knew this because weeks before she got fired, Sylvia told her, "Mr Wiggington is not happy with you and he wants you written up." She couldn't understand how Wiggington who did not even work in the same office nor who ever observed her work, could order her written up except that he wanted her fired.
The third employee's case was different. Smock knew that Wiggington had made up phony accusations and refused to be a part of the termination meeting. Of course its not because Smock is wonderful but because he's a sissy. Anyway, Wiggington leveled a bunch of lies and when asked to provide proof of the violations of policy, replied, "I don't have to show it to you." There was another person present who wasn't an employee. Wiggington probably hired him for protection because at the end of the day, Wiggington is just another queen.
@Anonymous who wrote, I hope a nervous Wiggy doesn't soil himself when he testifies - that would really stink up the court and piss-off the Judge. Plus, it's kind of embarrassing for his staunch supporters on the Committee For Vindication.
Wiggington soiling himself would put him on equal par with ex-director, Thomas Gathers. Plus it wouldn't be the most embarrassing thing he's done while president.
It actually wouldn't be the most embarrassing thing he's done as president. Wiggles is embarrassing 24/7. He should print up some badges for employees to wear that read, "Our President is the most embarrassing thing to happen to P1."
You said - If Wiggy soiled himself in court it wouldn't be the most embarrassing thing he's done while president. Ok- I'll bite. What could be more embarrassing then soiling yourself in open court? Did somebody catch Wiggy jerking-off in a coffee pot - that might be more embarrassing, I suppose.
Also, I'm slightly confused on why a member would apply for a loan, get it approved and then not take the proceeds (fund it)? It sounds as if there is a large backlog of approved loans that have not been funded. Huh?
Unfortunately, I know a few things that are more embarrassing ten soiling yourself in open court.
As a former employee of the loan department, I can tell you that at times some members just want to see if they qualify for a loan or in the case of a personal loan, how much they might qualify for. At other times, members find a better deal from another credit union or a bank.
One thing that has hurt Priority One is the increasing distrust members have in the credit union because of its reputation. Another factor is that Priority One has really awful member service. Wiggington's prime directive is getting sales versus providing quality service. As you know, a deal on a product can get your business but repeat business is often based on the personal experience a member has at the credit union and in the case of Priority One, they're known for bad service, not very knowledgeable staff, and often, rude treatment at the hands of its employees.
Wiggington doesn't comprehend a lot of things like the importance of marketing nor does he understand that marketing is not synonymous with advertising. He also doesn't comprehend that having a lot of approved loans on file that haven't been funded does not equal success. Non-funded loans = no business. He really doesn't comprehend this.
For years, he and Rodger Smock kept a long list of SEG's and boasted that Priority One had more than 150 SEGs. Problem is Priority One's SEG's were not generating sales thus making them useless. Of the more than 150 SEGs, they have 3 to 5 that bring in business. That's an alarming ratio but Wiggington and Smock don't understand this. Also, about 20% to 25& of the SEGs on their list are no longer in business but Wiggington and Rodger want to retain the list intact to make it look like their all active, participating SEGs.
Wiggington also refuses to divulage how many actual members they have. When he became President, the amount approximated 30,000 but if you read Robert West's dull article for HigherUP, that number has dropped to 26,000. Still, Wiggington makes sure that even inactive accounts remain on file as active accounts. This makes the number of accounts look much bigger than it actually is.
And he's doing the same thing with loans. An approved loan that is more than 30 days old is invalid because a person's credit history can adversely change in 30 days. He is so dishonest that he has ordered that loan applications that are approved but are more than 30 days old, remain actively on file giving the impression Priority One has a lot more business but again, an approved application that isn't funded is worthless and can't be interpreted as profit. Wiggington is deceitful. He wants reports to imply that business is good when the reports should be deemed highly inaccurate.
PS: Someone should post on this blog why the Los Angeles and South Pasadena branches were closed a few days ago. According to the credit union, the network was down but if thats true, then why did Van Nuys remain open? Food for thought.
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