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Smith and Wesson chief fired over murky past
REUTERS[ SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 2004 11:32:47 PM ]
NEW YORK: Legendary US gun manufacturer Smith and Wesson said it had replaced its chairman following newspaper revelations that he had spent up to 15 years in prison for a series of armed robberies.
James Minder, who was appointed to the position of chairman of the board just five weeks ago, would stay on as an independent director, the company said in a statement. “While recognising the very serious mistakes in his early life, the board believes that Mr. Minder has led an exemplary life for 35 years and has provided tremendous services to the community,” the statement said.
Minder's crime-tainted past — of which Smith and Wesson was apparently ignorant — was exposed by the Arizona Republic newspaper earlier this month.
According to the Republic, Mr Minder claimed he had always been open about his background, but had not mentioned it to Smith and Wesson executives on the simple grounds that they never asked. Mr Minder, 74, served time in prison in the 1950s and 1960s and ultimately confessed to eight armed robberies and an attempted prison escape, according to the Republic. Mr Minder told the Republic that he had turned over a new leaf after finishing his last prison sentence in 1969, going on to earn a master's degree in social work from the University of Michigan. Asked why he didn't disclose his past earlier, he told the newspaper, “No one asked the question, so I guess I never answered it.”
<ul> ~ a series armed robberies</ul>
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