Office and Professional Employees (OPEIU)

OPEIU Service Rep in Michigan Charged with Embezzlement

Submitted by Carl Horowitz on Fri, 09/23/2011 - 15:27

On June 2, Joseph Darby, former service representative for Office and Professional Employees International Union Local 459, was charged in the 54th District Court of Ingham County, Michigan with one count of embezzling between $200 and $1,000 from the Lansing-based union. The charge follows a probe by the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.

Carl Horowitz's blog

Texas Office Manager Charged with Embezzlement, Conspiracy

Submitted by Carl Horowitz on Mon, 01/26/2009 - 01:00

On December 16, Sarah Crafts, former office manager of the Austin-based Texas Building and Construction Trades Council, was charged in U.S. District Court with one count each of embezzlement and conspiracy totaling $27,197, plus one count of embezzlement of $17,478. The charges follow an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards. (OLMS, 1/9/09).

Secretary-Treasurer in Cleveland Sentenced for Records Fraud

Submitted by Carl Horowitz on Mon, 06/30/2008 - 00:00

On June 10, Kristen Swint, former vice president and secretary treasurer of International Association of Machinists Inflight Aircraft Lodge 2339 in Cleveland, was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio to two years probation and ordered to pay $30,256 in restitution. Swint pled guilty in January to falsifying union records to cover up theft. The sentencing follows an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards. (OLMS, 6/21/08).

Former Cleveland-Area President Sentenced 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

Ex-Treasurer Admits Embezzlement in Del. Fed. Court

Submitted by Carl Horowitz on Mon, 03/28/2005 - 01:00

On February 17, in the U.S. District Court for Delaware, Julie Messick, the former treasurer of Local 2001, United Bhd. of Carpenters, entered a guilty plea by plea agreement to one count of a five-count indictment. She pled guilty to embezzling union funds. Messick had previously made restitution in the amount of $9,164. She further stipulated in the plea agreement that she will make additional restitution in the amount of $2,629.85. On December 7, 2004, Messick was charged following an investigation by the Philadelphia District Office of the U.S. Office of Labor-Mgmt. Standards. [OLMS, 3/4/05]

Frmr. Bus. Mgr. Resentenced after Failing to Abide by 1st Sentence

Mixed Verdicts in Capital Consultants Case

Submitted by Carl Horowitz on Mon, 06/21/2004 - 00:00

U.S. Dist. Judge Anna Brown (Ore., Clinton) delivered a mixed bag of verdicts on June 16. She found Dean Kirkland guilty of paying illegal gratuities to influence the investment decisions of union pension fund trustees. But citing the vagueness of fed. law, she found the 2 trustees in question, Dean's father, Gary, and Robert Legino, not guilty of accepting Dean's illegal gifts, which came in the form of lavish gifts and worldwide hunting trips.

Trial of Cap Consultants Exec & Union Pension Trustees Continues in Ore.

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

Federal prosecutors and lawyers for now-defunct Capital Consultants salesman Dean Kirkland began dueling in federal court on April 21. Leading the case against Kirkland, Ore. Asst. U.S. Attny Neil Evans presented evidence that in 1999, union pension trustees were uncomfortable with their funds being moved into the investment firm that eventually collapsed in 2000. Evans also presented testimony that Kirkland continued to arrange hunting trips with union trustees who supported Capital even after he was advised that such trips likely violated anti-kickback provisions of fed. pension law. After U.S. Dist.

DOL Sues Trustees of 7 Union Pension & Health Plans Over Ore. Investment Scandal

Submitted by David Kendrick on Mon, 09/15/2003 - 00:00

The U.S. Dept. of Labor sued the trustees of 7 union sponsored pension and health plans in Ohio and Minnesota on Aug. 29 for imprudent investments with Capital Consultants LLC. As a result of the investments, the plans suffered substantial losses that jeopardized the benefits of over 19,000 workers.

"The trustees' actions are abominable. Hardworking men and women trusted these trustees to protect and preserve their union-sponsored pension and health benefits. The trustees abused that trust and thousands of workers saw their retirement security put in jeopardy. The Administration is suing on behalf of these workers to recover as much as possible for the plans and to establish new procedures and controls to ensure that workers' pension and health plans will not be raided again," says Secy. of Labor Elaine L. Chao.

Union Pensioners Get 1st Installment of Cap. Consultant Repayments

Submitted by David Kendrick on Mon, 08/04/2003 - 00:00

Court-appointed receiver Thomas Lennon was expected last week to send some $72 million to union pension funds and other clients of the failed Capital Consultants investment firm. Eventually, some $240 million in asset sales and legal settlements is expected to be returned to the investors, about 70 percent of the losses incurred with the Oregon-based firm's collapse in 2000. The major union trusts involved in the recovery action include the Ore. Laborers-Employers Pension Plan, the 8th Dist. of the Intl. Bhd. of Elec. Workers which covers Colo., Idaho, and Utah, the United Assn. Local 290 Plumber, Steamfitter & Shipfitter Industrial Pension Plan in Portland, Ore., and the Office & Professional Employees Intl. Union Local 11, also in Portland.

Pension Cleanup Continues at Capital Consultants in Ore.

Submitted by David Kendrick on Mon, 09/02/2002 - 00:00

Capital Consultants' chief salesman, Dean Kirkland, was indicted Aug. 22 on 20 counts of giving various kickbacks to two union pension fund bosses, one of them his father. The indictment was handed down in the U.S. Dist. Ct. in Portland, Ore., where Capital is based.

The latest indictments bring to six the number of union and pension officials charged with wrongdoing in the firm's 2000 collapse that cost numerous union pension funds a large share of the $500 million lost. Already convicted are the head of Capital, Jeffrey Grayson, and his son Barclay, and John D. Abbott, who admitted in Feb. 2001 to taking nearly $190,000 from the elder Grayson to steer the investments of five Laborers union trust funds to Capital.