Strat God

Clinton Library Builder's CFO Disappears Amid Audit
Sunday, March 16, 2008


LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — John Glasgow had a healthy salary, with an opportunity to pick up stock in the construction company where he worked. He was the kind of guy who paid back a $500 bonus he got for completing an anti-smoking program because he started to light up again.

But now Glasgow has been missing since Jan. 28, with his car found abandoned the next day, and family and police say it's impossible to tell whether he killed himself, was abducted or left to start a new life elsewhere.

His family said the easygoing 45-year-old felt overwhelmed and anxious about a company audit, but the company says no money is missing.

Police say there is no evidence of foul play, and no clues to his whereabouts.

"He may be under some kind of compulsion ... some kind of blackmail, that's a scenario you could dream up," said his brother, Roger Glasgow. "We're not suggesting any of these scenarios because we just don't know. But it does open up a Pandora's box of possibilities."

John Glasgow was the chief financial officer of CDI Contractors LLC of Little Rock, owned by department-store chain Dillard's Inc. and the estate of co-founder Bill Clark. It has built or remodeled many of Dillard's 300-plus department stores and put up some of Arkansas' signature projects, including Bill Clinton's presidential library, and had estimated sales last year of $432.9 million. Dillard's Inc. had 2007 sales of $7.81 billion.

With Clark's death last year, Dillard's has the option to buy his shares, but it has discussed letting CDI employees buy Clark's shares instead. Glasgow was in charge of the redistribution and himself stood to buy a part of the company.

Glasgow's family and colleagues say that multimillion-dollar deal weighed heavily on him.

Weeks before his disappearance, his wife Melinda found him pacing in their kitchen as the end-of-the-year audit period approached. Dillard's had sent "absolutely relentless" auditors to review CDI's books, she said.

Roger Glasgow said John tapped his own phone after perceiving a threat over CDI's depreciation of its assets. Depreciation, a standard accounting practice, figures how business assets, such as equipment, lose value over time.

Recordings from the tapped phone line revealed no further threats, he said.

Dillard's representatives did not return calls from The Associated Press seeking comment. In a joint statement with CDI, Dillard's told the weekly newspaper Arkansas Business nothing was wrong with CDI's accounting.

William Clark, president and CEO of CDI and the son of its founder, said Glasgow suffered from "pressure that was self-induced."

"The people buying in were obviously about ready to take a big financial step and John felt personally responsible to make sure that everything went well with the deal," Clark said.

Roger Glasgow said his brother appeared happy in his marriage.

Glasgow's SUV was found at Petit Jean Mountain, a state park an hour northwest of Little Rock, with its doors unlocked and valuables inside.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@