International Brotherhood of Boilermakers (IBB)

Maryland Local Treasurer Pleads Guilty to Embezzlement

Submitted by Carl Horowitz on Mon, 06/04/2007 - 00:00

On May 3, Walter Fisher, former treasurer for Local 1949 of the United Transportation Union, pleaded guilty in federal court for the District of Maryland to one count of embezzling funds from the Ellicott City-based union in an amount greater than $30,000 but less than $70,000. The guilty plea follows an investigation by the Labor Department. (OLMS, 5/30/07).

Former Secretary-Treasurer of Pittsburgh-Area Local Sentenced

CFO of New York State Union Sentenced for Thefts

Submitted by Carl Horowitz on Mon, 05/07/2007 - 00:00

John T. Daley for four years embezzled nearly $1.2 million from the New York State Nurses Association, the 34,000-member union of which he had been chief financial officer. Now he’s going to pay a price. On March 30, Daley received a prison sentence in Albany County Court of three-and-a-third years to 10 years. He also will have to make restitution. Daley pleaded guilty in January to second-degree grand larceny, after initially claiming innocence due to impaired judgment from overuse of prescription drugs. The sentencing follows an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards and the police department of the Town of Colonie, located north of Albany. (OLMS, 4/23/07).

Business Manager of Texas Local Indicted for Embezzlement

Retired Maryland Officer Pleads Guilty to Thefts

Submitted by Carl Horowitz on Mon, 02/12/2007 - 01:00

Of all the motives for corruption by union officials and members, few are more disheartening, or these days common, as the need to cover gambling losses. Donald Lee Travis, a retired officer with the Frederick, Md. police force, is the latest example. Travis, 67, pleaded guilty in Frederick County Circuit Court on February 6 to embezzling at least $45,000 from his Fraternal Order of Police lodge to support a slot-machine habit, receiving a suspended five-year sentence. A 30-year veteran of the force, he admitted he stole from the lodge, which he managed during 2004 and 2005. He regularly played the slot machines at Charles Town Races and Slots, located in nearby Charles Town, West Virginia, spending around $500 to $600 per trip. Travis should have bet on the horses – or found something else to do. (Associated Press, 2/7/07).

Ex-Milwaukee Local Bosses Charged in Superseding Indictment

Cincinnati Contractor Associate Pleads No Contest to Fraud

Submitted by Carl Horowitz on Mon, 01/29/2007 - 01:00

On January 22, Michael Griffie, an associate of a Cincinnati-area contractor, Electrical Innovations, pleaded guilty in Hamilton County, Ohio Court of Common Pleas to one count of unauthorized use of property. He had been charged back in March with aggravated theft of property or services worth at least $100,000 from International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 212, and with tampering with market recovery forms and forging market recovery fund forms for the purpose of defrauding the local. The no-contest plea follows an investigation by the Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards. The co-owners of Electrical Innovations, Rachetta Johnson and Charlene Monroe, were sentenced last September to five years probation and 500 hours of community service after pleading guilty to theft by deception. (OLMS, 1/25/07).

Ex-Office Manager in Minnesota Sentenced for Embezzlement

Secretary-Treasurer for Western Pennsylvania Local Indicted

Submitted by Carl Horowitz on Mon, 12/18/2006 - 01:00

A federal grand jury in Pittsburgh has indicted Stephen Kostelac on charges of embezzlement. A resident of Fayette County, Pa., Kostelac, 51, secretary-treasurer of the Donora, Pa.-based Lodge 906 of the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, is accused of stealing dues payments. Prosecutors did not give a specific dollar amount. (Tribune-Review, Greensburg, Pa., 11/30/06).

Former Treasurer in Alabama Indicted for Embezzlement

Benefit Funds Administrator, Contractor Indicted for Thefts

Submitted by Carl Horowitz on Mon, 06/19/2006 - 00:00

The leaders of the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers had a feeling the tab for renovation work at their Kansas City, Kansas funds office ran on the high side – way high. Four years earlier they’d sued the wife of the one of the people they’d suspected of embezzlement. Now the federal government wants to know why a rehab job cost around twice what it should have. Early this month Vernon Keith Reed and Richard Michael Taylor were charged in federal court on nine counts each of conspiracy and theft of pension and welfare funds. The IBB, with more than 100,000 members in the U.S. and Canada, is hoping it can recover the funds.

D.C. Local Gets Clean Bill of Health from Parent Union

Submitted by Carl Horowitz on Mon, 03/27/2006 - 01:00

Closure at last could be at hand in the Washington, D.C. teachers’ union scandal. The parent organization of the Washington Teachers Union, the American Federation of Teachers, recently announced that local officials had fixed certain problems cited by the Department of Labor in the WTU’s 2005 financial report. A spokesperson for the AFT called the few remaining problems “routine technical shortcomings.” The action is unrelated to a complaint the DOL filed in February over allegations of irregularities in the local election of more than a year ago. (Washington Times, 3/13/06).

National Official Charged with Obstructing Theft Probe

Submitted by Carl Horowitz on Mon, 10/10/2005 - 00:00

The International Brotherhood of Boilermakers needed some renovation work at its headquarters in Kansas City, Kan. Unfortunately, someone at the union thought that an unauthorized use of member funds – about $920,000 worth – could pay for it. Investigators aren’t yet certain if thefts actually occurred. But at least one person at the union appears to have something to hide. As a result, he’s facing some serious legal problems.

Nebraska Local Treasurer Charged with Embezzlement

Submitted by Carl Horowitz on Mon, 10/10/2005 - 00:00

Crime paid well for Antoinette Cox-Burress – at least for three and a half years. But now the former treasurer of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1293, in Lincoln, stands accused of stealing $14,663 from the union. During June 2001-December 2004, Lancaster County prosecutors allege, she embezzled funds from the local account at First Choice Credit Union in Lincoln. Officers served a search warrant at the credit union on September 22, and determined that she had made 42 unauthorized withdrawals. In some cases, Cox-Burress took cash; in others, she transferred funds to another personal account at the union. She posted a $300 bond and

Mass. Bus. Agent Sentenced for Embezzlement

Submitted by Carl Horowitz on Mon, 05/10/2004 - 00:00

A Chicopee man was sentenced on May 5 in federal court for embezzling $81,000 from a union representing employees of Top Flight, a wholly owned subsidiary of Callaway Golf formerly owned by Spalding. U.S. Attny. Michael J. Sullivan and Mark Letizi, Dist. Director for the U.S. Dept. of Labor's Ofc. of Labor Mgmt. Standards (OLMS) in New England, announced that Gene Malinowski was sentenced by U.S. Dist. Judge Michael A.