Executive Sues His Codefendant

A former Wal-Mart executive convicted of wire fraud along with then-Vice Chairman Thomas Coughlin is suing his former supervisor for emotional distress.

Robert E. Hey Jr. filed a lawsuit against Coughlin on Tuesday in Benton County Circuit Court. The lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages, says Hey was only following orders in a scheme to defraud Wal-Mart.

Hey, formerly vice president of merchandising systems for Wal-Mart Stores Inc., pleaded guilty in federal court in November to three counts of wire fraud and was sentenced to one day in prison and six months of supervised release. Prosecutors said Hey wrote fake vouchers to obtain money and Wal-Mart gift cards for Coughlin, his superior.

Coughlin was sentenced last month to 27 months in home detention after pleading guilty to stealing money, merchandise and gift cards from the retailer. Coughlin also was ordered to make $306,822.40 in restitution to Wal-Mart and $104,395.60 to the Internal Revenue Service.

The lawsuit claims that Coughlin told Hey to “create a paper trail that would appear to be legitimate” and that Hey needed to make fraudulent invoices.