Smith & Wesson

"Gunmaker Smith & Wesson Holding Corp. yesterday stood by board member and former chairman James J. Minder despite revelations that the 74-year-old executive spent more than a decade in prison for using a sawed-off shotgun to commit holdups in the 1950s. The company said yesterday that Minder, who stepped down as chairman earlier in the week, will remain on the board of directors."

"The head of Americas oldest gun maker, Smith & Wesson, has resigned after a local newspaper exposed his past as a convicted armed robber. It emerged that James Joseph Minder, 74, appointed as chairman just a month ago, spent more than a decade in prison in the 1950s and 1960s and had even attempted a jailbreak. As a convicted felon, he is not allowed to carry a firearm. Mr Minders convictions came to light in the Arizona Republic newspaper. According to the report, he used a sawn-off shotgun to commit eight hold-ups wearing a trademark hat, white scarf and trench coat. The robberies were at a bank, several drugstores, and a jewellery shop in the Detroit area. He was not very successful, and was arrested several times, as well as serving time for his attempted escape from prison."

"While recognizing 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. Based on this, and other successful business experience, the board believes he should and can continue to provide invaluable input to Smith & Wesson within both strategic planning and the ongoing drive toward operational excellence."

"This story ends with an embarrassing moment in February 2004. That was when executives at Smith & Wesson, the firearms manufacturer, found out their new board chairman, 74, had spent a dozen years in prison for armed robbery — armed with a Smith & Wesson pistol, actually. Naturally, the board chairman faced some questions. For one: Why didn’t you mention this to the company? “They never asked,” he said."

"Smith & Wesson Holding Corp. agreed to pay $2 million to settle a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into allegations of foreign bribery by the gun maker."

"The Massachusetts-based company has agreed to pay the U.S. government $2 million for bribing officials in Pakistan, Indonesia and other countries as it tried to sell firearms to military and law enforcement agencies. The Securities and Exchange Commission says the violations took place between 2007 and 2010...In one case, the SEC says Smith & Wesson provided more than $11,000 worth of guns as a gift to Pakistani police officials there. That deal won the gun maker a contract to sell 548 pistols to the police department for a profit of $107,852. While that was the only corrupt contract ultimately fulfilled, the SEC says the company also tried to secure sales contracts by bribing officials at an Indonesian police department, as well as foreign officials in Turkey, Nepal and Bangladesh."

"A Pakistani police department received a cache of guns from U.S. gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson in return for a deal to sell hundreds of pistols to cops in the South Asian country, one of numerous attempts to bribe officials in developing economies, U.S. regulatory officials said on Monday. The U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, or FCPA, prohibits companies from bribing officials to make sales even if it is common practice to do so in some countries.... The company said in its latest financial earnings report last month it was the subject of a U.S. Department of Justice investigation into FCPA violations as far back as 2010, the same year the SEC informed the company it was being investigated for “any violations of the federal securities law.” “We are cooperating fully with the SEC in this matter and have undertaken a comprehensive review of company policies and procedures,” the company said in the filing."

"Smith & Wesson, the US firearms manufacturer, has paid more than $2m to the Securities and Exchange Commission for allegedly bribing foreign officials to win contracts to supply arms to overseas police and military forces, the SEC said on Monday."

"In the years since Obama took office, gun makers have had some of their most profitable years. Last year, Smith & Wesson sales hit a record high of $626m, up 6.7% from $587.5m in 2013."

"There was some fear-based buying that would take place from time to time. There is no fear-based buying right now."

"Smith & Wesson was in the midst of getting new leadership, having been further shaken when its chairman, James Minder, proved to have served time in prison for a string of armed robberies while a journalism student at the University of Michigan. The young Minder had started with one of his future companys revolvers but had then opted for a sawed-off shotgun."

"In 1989, rather late in the computer revolution, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) was finally able to say which gun manufacturers turned up most often in trace requests. The company whose handguns were traced most often from January of 1990 to December of 1991 was the giant Smith & Wesson."