Former Walter controller suspended from current job
By SCOTT BARANCIK
Published March 29, 2004
A former Walter Industries controller is in a bit of hot water.
Mark Hiltwein, who joined the Tampa company in July 2000 but left just three months later, was suspended as chief financial officer by his current employer for allegedly back-dating a memo to fool outside auditors.
It was a costly gaffe. Hiltwein's employer, Moore Wallace Inc. of Toronto, withheld his $400,000 bonus. More importantly, Hiltwein was on track to assume the CFO slot at R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co. of Chicago, which acquired Moore Wallace last month to create the country's largest commercial printing company. Donnelley, which has not commented on the suspension since the merger, recently listed another Moore Wallace alum as its interim CFO.
When former Walter CEO Robert Burton hired Hiltwein, he said he expected him to "make an immediate contribution." Months later, Burton quit to join Moore Corp., which would become Moore Wallace. Hiltwein left to join him.
It's not clear whether Hiltwein left Walter Industries voluntarily. The company declined to comment on the episode last week. Back in 2000, it offered only this boilerplate explanation: Hiltwein left "to pursue other interests."
