According to documents posted on the NCUA's Web site (www.ncua.gov), which have since been removed, U.S. Central FCU withheld former executive Dave Dickens' severance benefits during an investigation into whether his actions could have allowed him to be fired "with cause."

When Dickens was fired Feb. 5, 2009, he was told that not only would his severance be delayed pending investigation, but that U.S. Central had hired "one of Kansas City's oldest and most powerful law firms" to investigate and "serve as the decision-making tribunal."

With 18 months of severance pay and Dickens' professional reputation on the line, the 21-year U.S. Central veteran was forced to hire his own legal counsel so "he would be fairly represented during the course of the investigation, especially in the face of having been fired by a CEO who appeared to be acting on his own personal agenda." That charge was leveled against Francis Lee, who was CEO of U.S. Central at the time but soon after dismissed when the NCUA placed U.S. Central into conservatorship.