Gearbox CEO Has Millions Embezzled by Personal Assistant

Megalith

Megalith

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Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford and his wife are victims of a master con artist: according to Texas prosecutors, John Wright Martin stole millions from the Pitchfords after being hired as a personal assistant in 2014. Martin has a long criminal history, so It isn’t clear how he got the job. Police have no idea where he is.

By early 2015 Martin was charging his personal expenses to the Pitchfords' American Express business account. Purchases included designer clothes, jewelry, electronics, hotel stays, airfare and even Amazon movie rentals. He had a self-admitted "addiction to fine shoes and blazers." Photos on social media show him wearing top-of-the-line clothes in bold patterns and vibrant colors. In 2015, Martin bought a home in Frisco's tony Newman Village with a market value of $591,000.
 
BHenry said:
So someone conned the con man? I would think you'd at least watch your credit card statements.
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I worked as the IT guy for a small company before. The owner had several different companies and quite a bit of wealth. As such he had an AmEx for the business. He literally gave me a scanned copy of the card and told me to use it for the companies IT needs. Other than payroll all the IT budgeting was on that one card. I know he did the same for some of the other departments and I'm sure it was also shared out to at least one of his other companies as well. So, trying to keep track of all the purchases on something like that is damned near impossible. It'd get looked at maybe once a year by someone who might come in and do an audit. So yeah, I could easily see how he could of gotten away with it for so long. But something like that, you'd almost always eventually get caught I'd think. And it sounds like he did.
 
Jiminy Crickets...I watch my account and credit score like a hawk. The Pitchford's have themselves to blame for letting the scumbag take advantage of them.
 
carlbme said:
I worked as the IT guy for a small company before. The owner had several different companies and quite a bit of wealth. As such he had an AmEx for the business. He literally gave me a scanned copy of the card and told me to use it for the companies IT needs. Other than payroll all the IT budgeting was on that one card. I know he did the same for some of the other departments and I'm sure it was also shared out to at least one of his other companies as well. So, trying to keep track of all the purchases on something like that is damned near impossible. It'd get looked at maybe once a year by someone who might come in and do an audit. So yeah, I could easily see how he could of gotten away with it for so long. But something like that, you'd almost always eventually get caught I'd think. And it sounds like he did.
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Somewhat similar situation to a company I worked at in my youth. The boss had given the finance guy his credit card, I guess that is understandable, however the finance guy was using it for a ton of unauthorized shit. Boss never did notice, but hey he drank a lot … and I mean a LOT. Finance guy was finally caught because he left a message on the company voicemail at like 1:30 in the morning saying he quit. Boss finally called in someone to audit finances and she found that the finance guy had been fleecing the company pretty much since he began work. What a dumbass. The boss never really trusted anyone after that and attempted to do the finances himself … which he completely failed at. Just before the ship went down I left and went back to school.
 
no wonder why gearbox is going under, if the boss makes so much that he doesn't even realize that millions are being stolen from him, that means he got too much of it, CEOs shouldn't make so much money, everyone can have a 15 year vision of a project, don't have to give him millions to do the job hundred of milliosn to do the job.
 
I guess I can imagine a scenario where you are wealthy and have a busy life like this that you need assistant or so to help with task. But why would you give them that much access? I would think it would be smarter to have specific business spending accounts that have limited funds that they work with, not your own personal banking information.
 
Well somebody didn't do his due diligence when he hired someone to take care of his personal dealings. Resumes and references... they exist for a reason.
 
How the fuck do you not notice huge swaths of cash being spent like that
 
Got what he deserved after what they did to opposing forces.
 
bigdogchris said:
I guess I can imagine a scenario where you are wealthy and have a busy life like this that you need assistant or so to help with task. But why would you give them that much access? I would think it would be smarter to have specific business spending accounts that have limited funds that they work with, not your own personal banking information.
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That is the smart way to do it

However the best way is to have a second outside person justify each expense.

At our company expenses are pre approved for office supplies. But after you purchase something the bill is in your name not the companies. And you have to file a report with receipts for justification and the appropriate spending account number which has categories of what the purchase was for. You don't get paid till a human person reviews it within 7 days.
 
How odd, the guy who owned gearbox just got tossed in jail for embezzlement not too long ago now the CEO says he had millions stolen by his assistant...
 
was the money really stolen, or was it just payment for .. services.. rendered??
 
AceGoober said:
Jiminy Crickets...I watch my account and credit score like a hawk. The Pitchford's have themselves to blame for letting the scumbag take advantage of them.
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We live in a different world from these guys. I work in real estate focused on San Francisco and the surrounding bay area. There's people there that are running 10 different bank accounts, 3 wealth management funds, have 4 or 5 income streams and 10 active credit cards that they ring up thousands a month and pay it in full every time. When you have the kind of money these people have, you don't have the time to review everything as just tracking your cash would become a full-time job. That's why they hire accountants/assistants which is what happened here.
 
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