Two Joplin bankers get the ax

April 17, 2007 01:18 am

— By Melissa Dunson
mdunson@joplinglobe.com
P. Lee Gilbert, president, chairman and chief executive officer of Mid-Missouri Bancshares Inc., spent Monday in Joplin after two local bank officials were fired late last week and two others were suspended in light of a government investigation.
Dennis Markham, executive vice president of Mid-Missouri Bank in Webb City, said Scott Rosenthal, president and chief executive officer of Mid-Missouri Bank at 2230 E. 32nd St. in Joplin, and Kayla Muskrat, a loan officer at the same location, were “terminated with cause.”
Frank McReynolds, senior vice president of the 32nd Street location, and Chris Couch, executive vice president at the same location, were suspended. Markham would not comment on the reason for the firings, but he said that depending on the outcome of the investigation, Couch and McReynolds might return to their positions.
Rosenthal and Muskrat did not return phone calls to the Globe on Monday, and McReynolds said he had no comment on his suspension.
The investigation reportedly includes the involvement of the Missouri Division of Finance, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the FBI and a bonding company.
Eric McClure, Missouri Division of Finance commissioner, said the law doesn’t permit him to say anything at this time regarding any bank examination. He said the division generally defers criminal matters to federal officials, but it does have the power to remove bank directors or officers or prohibit them from working at any state-chartered institutions. But McClure said that in this case, the division did not exercise that power. In this case, he said, local Mid-Missouri customers should not be worried about their deposits.
“The bank is in good shape, and depositors should have confidence in the local bank,” McClure said.
Jeff Lanza, spokesman for the FBI office in Kansas City, would not comment on whether an investigation is under way.
The FDIC did not return a Globe phone call Monday.
Markham said neither the firings nor the investigation should affect Mid-Missouri’s customers.
“It’s business as usual, and taking care of our customers is still our No. 1 priority,” Markham said.
Staff writer Jeff Lehr contributed to this report.