Go Clear Out Your Desk, Bob…And Don’t Forget the Kilt

Bob Moffat, the high-ranking IBM executive arrested in the Galleon insider-trading case, has traded his temporary leave of absence for a permanent one. According to a brief message posted to IBM’s internal Web site, Moffat, the head of IBM’s Systems and Technology Group, has left the company in the wake of the Galleon affair.

“Bob Moffat, who had been placed on a leave of absence as a result of a US federal investigation into his personal activities, is no longer an employee of IBM,” the message reads.

A terse farewell for a man who was reportedly a trusted lieutenant of Sam Palmisano, IBM’s (IBM) chief executive officer, and one of his possible successors. Moffat, after all, is a 31-year IBM veteran, a “true-blue” company guy who used to boost employee morale by wearing kilts and sumo wrestler suits. Clearly, the company wants to put as much distance between itself and anyone linked with what’s being described as one of the biggest insider-trading schemes of all time–even if he is an archetypal IBM executive.

Moffat, for his part, insists he left the company of his own accord. “[He] retired from IBM, he was not terminated or fired,” said his attorney, Kerry Lawrence, who also noted that the exec is “still asserting his innocence….[He left] so he could devote his time and energy to defending himself against the charges.”