Wal-Mart Director Resigns After Probe

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - A high-profile Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) board member resigned Friday after an internal probe turned up evidence of financial improprieties of up to half-a-million dollars.

Three Wal-Mart employees, including a company officer, also lost their jobs.
The world's largest retailer said it asked Thomas M. Coughlin, who is also a former president and CEO of the company's stores division, to step down because of "a disagreement" over the results of the probe, which involves between $100,000 and $500,000, and his "response to questions concerning his knowledge of certain transactions," according to a regulatory filing.

The Securities and Exchange Commission document does not directly state what role, if any, Coughlin, had in "the alleged unauthorized use of corporate-owned gift cards and personal reimbursements that appear to have been obtained ... through the reporting of false information on third-party invoices and Company expense reports."

In a separate statement, Bentonville-based Wal-Mart said that it did not expect any adverse financial impact from the investigation. The company did not name or otherwise identify the three fired employees and declined further comment Friday.