Three Mid-Missouri Bank employees fired; investigation ongoing

Springfield-based Mid-Missouri Bancshares Inc. Chairman, President and CEO P. Lee Gilbert said Tuesday that Couch, McReynolds and Langston were dismissed “for cause.”

The bank dismissed Joplin branch president Scott Rosenthal and loan officer Kayla Muskrat on April 12. Couch and McReynolds were suspended at that time. Langston was not suspended at the time, but Gilbert said Langston had been terminated as of May 1.

Gilbert visited the Joplin bank on Tuesday to meet with Thane Kifer, Mid-Missouri’s vice president and attorney, to discuss the status of the investigation that involves the Missouri Division of Finance, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the FBI and the bank’s bonding company. Gilbert said he couldn’t reveal the nature of the investigation or the reason for firing the five bank employees.

He did confirm, however, that contrary to persistent rumor, Rosenthal and Muskrat were not handcuffed when they were escorted from the building on April 12.

“There is nothing wrong with the bank and all depositors and customers are fine,” Gilbert said. “There were some individual (customers) involved, but we’re working with any of those on a case-by-case basis. None of our customers are at risk, and we want to assure them that they’ll be taken care of.”

When asked if the bank had lost any money because of the incident under investigation, Gilbert said, “I don’t have any idea. We’re still trying to get our arms around it all to see what numbers match up and what don’t.”

Both Couch and Langston, when called at their homes, said they couldn’t comment. Multiple calls to McReynolds’ home today were met with a busy signal.

Gilbert said the positions left vacant by the five terminated employees are being filled by employees from other branches. Steve Walker is serving as Rosenthal’s replacement until the company can hire a full-time replacement. Gilbert said Mid-Missouri is looking both in and out-of-house for employees to fill the vacancies.

Chris Roberts is a reporter for Joplin Tri-State Business, Springfield Business Journal's sister publication. He can be reached at croberts@joplintsb.com.