PITTSFIELD, Mass. – Greylock FCU said Friday that its President Angelo Stracuzzi has stepped down from the board of directors and has been put on administrative leave after an investigation into his parole for a misdemeanor assault charge was opened.
The $1.2 billion credit union is investigating allegations of legal conflict after it emerged that Stracuzzi’s parole in the 2004 case is being supervised by Clifford Nilan, the chief of probation for Berkshire Superior Court, who is also on the Greylock board. Nilan also stepped down from the board Friday in response to the probe.
Nilan has served on Greylock board since1994 and was chairman of the board from 2000 to 2004.
Stracuzzi, who has worked for Greylock since 1992 and was named president in 2003, will remain on administrative leave while Greylock completes a full investigation of potential conflicts of interest, Sheila LaBarbera, chairman of the Greylock board, said in a statement. “We have placed [Stracuzzi] on an administrative leave of absence from his position as CEO, while the board completes a full investigation of potential conflicts of interest.”
The move came after Massachusetts probation officials initiated a review of Stracuzzi's case. Probation officers are required to avoid any appearances of impropriety and to avoid any conflict of interest, according to a statement from the Probation Department.
Stracuzzi's case was transferred to the Berkshire Superior Court probation department after he was convicted of misdemeanor assault and criminal mischief in Maine. On May 25, 2005, Stracuzzi was sentenced in York Superior Court to a 364-day suspended jail sentence and one year of probation after admitting to the charges, and the case was transferred to Massachusetts.
Maine probation officials have expressed concern about whether Stracuzzi's probation was properly handled by Massachusetts.
Stracuzzi has built Greylock into one of the best-regarded financial institutions in western Massachusetts, building its assets from $700 million to $1.3 billion during his seven-year tenure, and keeping it in the black throughout the financial turmoil of the past three years.
