More AMA News

[firstturn]

Just to preface this post.  I put these posts on this site to help people keep informed.  I feel a lot of people that are members of the POG are also members of AMA.

INDUSTRY - AMA Admits Board Chairman Malfeasance
By Henny Ray Abrams
How Much? 2/16/2008  

The former chairman of the AMA board of directors is being investigated for financial irregularities and may be hit with criminal charges, the AMA announced in a statement on Saturday morning.

Dal Smilie, who served on the board for 25 years before resigning from his position as board chairman on Nov. 17, was found to have inflated his expenses, AMA CEO Rob Dingman said in a prepared statement. The malfeasance was discovered during an internal review of board member travel expenses.

In a Nov. 28 letter to RSUI Indemnity Company that was to serve as "official notice of a potential claim on behalf of the American Motorcycle Association," it was revealed that "Some financial malfeasance has been perpetrated by a board member of the Association. Rea & Associates," an Ohio accounting firm, "has been engaged to determine the level of the malfeasance."

The detailed news that the AMA was investigating a board member was first reported in Cycle News issue 7, published on Tuesday, Feb. 12.

The AMA statement raised the possibility of criminal charges by stating that on Friday, the "board voted to report the results of the review to appropriate law enforcement authorities."

Smilie is the chief legal counsel for the Montana Department of Administration.

The statement, which was released at the annual breakfast corporate board members in Indianapolis, quoted Dingman as saying, "In September, 2007, the AMA undertook an internal review of board members travel expenses. During the review, a pattern emerged of unsubstantiated expense reimbursements to Mr. Smilie. In October, AMA counsel contacted Mr. Smilie regarding the nature of the unsubstantiated expense reimbursements. Preceding the AMA board's November 17 meeting, Mr. Smilie offered his resignation from the board.

The amount of financial irregularities that was discovered was not revealed. A source familiar with the investigation put it well into six figures.

"At the November meeting, the AMA accepted Mr. Smilie's resignation and approved AMA management's recommendation to undertake a third-party review intended to document the scope of the unsubstantiated reimbursements requests. Information gathered to date was presented to the AMA board in its meeting yesterday, Friday, Febuary 15.

"At Friday's meeting, the AMA board voted to report the results of the review to appropriate law enforcement authorities. Meanwhile, the forensic review is continuing and therefore we can make no further comments regarding the matter at this time.

"This action demonstrates that the AMA Board of Directors and AMA management hold themselves accountable and act with integrity. I want to assure our members that we consider the management of their money to be a sacred trust. If that trust is violated, then we owe it to each and every member to seek justice on their behalf and to undertake measures to ensure their trust is never violated again."

Much of the malfeasance likely occurred under the watch of the previous AMA CEO's, Patti DiPietro, who served as CEO from Jan. 2006 until March 2007, and Rob Rasor, DiPietro's predecessor. Dingman was named CEO on March 27, 2007.

Given that Smilie's expenses had to be approved by at least one person, it's likely there will be more fallout.




Ron Carbaugh

[brian kirby]

I saw that too, seems there is more to come.

Brian

[tomale]

Thanks Ron, I did not see this before..........

Thom Green,Still crazy after all these years!
76' 250 MC5 (orginal owner)74'
250 hare scrambler (project bike)
72'sixday (project bike)

[Merlin]

The treasurer of the AMA is none other than Jeff Smith, former AHRMA executive director, Dal Smilie has been known to have links to AHRMA, hhhhmmmmmm?

Quote: Thomas Jefferson, We are all born ignorant, some work to remain that way.
 Quote:Merlin, "it is impossible to teach those that wish not to be taught".

[TGTech]

This past weekend at the Board meetings in Indianapolis, Jeff Smith also retired. A good thing, is that Jon Erik Burleson, the President of KTM North America, is now titled as "Assistant Treasurer". Jon Erik is very, very good with finances.

Dane

[brian kirby]

Hmmm, indeed.

Brian

[Mick Milakovic]

Dane, is Jon related to "King Richard"?

[TGTech]

Jon Erik is Dick's son.

Dane

[Ernie Phillips]

More:

INDUSTRY - Dal Smilie Resigns as Chief Legal Counsel
By Henny Ray Abrams
The Fallout Continues 2/23/2008  

Dal Smilie, the embattled former chairman of the AMA board of directors who is under investigation for allegedly inflating his AMA travel expenses, resigned Friday as the chief legal counsel for the Montana Department of Administration, according to a report on the website of the Helena Air.

Smilie's resignation is effective March 31, the paper reported.

Smilie has been the focus of an investigation by the AMA after it claimed to have found irregularities in his expenses in September. Following that discovery, the AMA retained an outside accounting firm to scrutinize the AMA accounts. The association later filed a claim with one of their insurers alleging that "malfeasance" had been "perpetrated by a board member."

In a press release issued last weekend, AMA CEO Rob Dingman acknowledged the existence of the investigation, which was first reported in Cycle News. Dingman also said the board had voted to turn over any findings to the "appropriate law enforcement authorities.

"I guess with that story out there I didn't figure I could carry out my work effectively," the paper quoted Smilie as saying.

Smilie's resignation was voluntary, according to Sheryl Olson, the deputy director of the Department of Administration. She said, "There was no action on our part. He decided it was the right time to go ahead and retire," the paper reported, adding that he'd been discussing retirement with his boss for the past two months.

The paper also quoted Olson as saying that the Department of Administration had undertaken "its own review of Smilie's state travel expenses going back five years. She said the department had found no discrepancies in the first two years it had reviewed as of Friday."


Ernie P.
Chattanooga, TN