Pete Smith was chairman of the board's audit committee until late last year. "In my 30 years as a compensation consultant with Watson Wyatt, I have never had a more difficult client," he wrote in his resignation letter, which was obtained by The Post from someone other than Smith, who would not comment. Its authenticity was verified by three people.

"More important, Ben wanted to control all information pertaining to his compensation very closely. At first I thought this was just a quirk. But as things evolved, I began to wonder if the intent was to hide the full scope of his compensation. . . . Important elements of his pay were not understood or explained to the board. His own CFO was in the dark concerning some elements of his pay; and the reporting of Ben's compensation on [the IRS] Form 990 was incomplete . . .


"As the committee wrestled with this problem, dealing with Ben became increasingly difficult and it began to feel like the board reported to Ben rather than the reverse. It was then that I decided to resign as a trustee."