
Mike Rothenberg allegedly wired $5.2M from bank without permission - confiscate
https://techcrunch.com/2016/09/20/mike-rothenberg-allegedly-wired-5-2-million-from-silicon-valley-bank-without-investor-permission/
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greenyoda
_" Indeed, one employee, David Haase, is currently suing the firm for breach
of contract, saying it owes him more than $109,000 in business expenses that
he accrued on a personal American Express card at Rothenberg’s direction."_

This is mind-boggling. Why would an employee agree to do this? If my employer
is desperate enough for cash that they want me to open a personal credit line
for corporate expenses, what chances are there that the company will ever be
able to pay back what it owes me?

The linked article[1] gives more details:

 _" Haase says in his suit that in May, he opened the account with
Rothenberg’s approval “for the purpose of acting as a credit line for the day-
to-day expenses incurred by RVM.” These included business expenses charged by
Rothenberg’s “numerous administrative assistants at his direct request.” Part
of those expenses included payroll, according to our sources."_

The company is charging _payroll_ to an employee's personal credit card?
Either they don't have a bank account, or their bank account has nothing in
it, or their funds are frozen pursuant to some legal matter. None of these
would make it likely that the money would ever be paid back to the employee.

But there's more:

 _" Another former senior executive said Rothenberg owes him at least $40,000
in back wages. Another third employee has filed with the California Division
of Labor Standards Enforcement for $70,000 of unpaid wages from the firm."_

$70K is a lot of missed paychecks, even for an employee with a rather high
salary. Why would people continue working for a company that makes clear to
them that it doesn't have the money to pay them?

[1] [https://techcrunch.com/2016/09/04/a-former-rothenberg-
employ...](https://techcrunch.com/2016/09/04/a-former-rothenberg-employee-is-
now-suing-over-breach-of-contract-and-more-than-100k-in-amex-charges)

