Albert A. Diop

Diop Gets up to 11 Years, $1.4 Million Allegedly Taken

Submitted by Michael Nelson on Mon, 12/03/2001 - 01:00

Albert A. Diop, ex-int'l vice-president of the Am. Fed'n of State, County & Mun. Employees and ex-president of Local 1549 in N.Y.C., was sentenced to up to 11 years in prison Nov. 20 after he admitted stealing over $50,000 from the local. Asst. Dist. Atty Thomas Mooney said before sentencing that had Diop gone to trial, he was prepared to prove that Diop was responsible for the theft of some $1.4 million from the union. "Diop spent an inordinate amount of time in Atlantic City," Mooney added. "Some of the missing funds may have been spent gambling."

Diop pled guilty Oct. 12 to second-degree grand larceny and admitted using a union credit card to finance a lavish personal life including chess sets, cameras, clothing, jewelry, and other personal items, and to pay for hotels for himself. An AFSCME audit accused Diop of having his local pay more than $600,000 to Local 1549's parent, AFSCME Dist. Council 37, for more than 2 years as rent for a personal penthouse atop DC37 headquarters.

Southern California Staffer Embezzled $110,000

Submitted by Michael Nelson on Mon, 10/22/2001 - 00:00

U.S. Dist. Judge Ronald S.W. Lew (C.D. Cal., Reagan) sentenced Wilfield Bloomfield, United Bhd. of Carpenters Local 1553's ex-bookkeeper, Oct. 16 to 15 months in federal prison for embezzling more than $110,000 from the local in Hawthorne, Cal. Lew put Bloomfield on 3 years probation and ordered him to pay $110,887 in restitution to the local, which is also known as the Elec. & Space Technicians Local 1553. He pled guilty in June. Bloomfield reportedly stole the money over a 2-year period ending in April 2000."Bloomfield allegedly stole pre-signed checks, made the checks payable to himself, then cashed them at a nearby check-cashing outlet and used the money for personal purposes. [City News Serv. 10/16/01]

New York Boss Gets the Max Sentence for Vote Rigging

Submitted by Michael Nelson on Mon, 09/10/2001 - 00:00

N.Y. trial judge Bonnie G. Wittner sentenced Albert A. Diop, an ex-int'l vice president of the Am. Fed'n of State, County & Mun. Employees and ex-boss in AFSCME Dist. Council 37 in N.Y., Aug. 28 to the maximum sentence, sixteen to forty-eight months in jail, for helping to rig a 1996 union contract vote. Diop still faces trial on separate charges that he embezzled over $1 million for personal purposes, including a penthouse suite, credit card charges, and equipment to try to detect listening devices in DC37 offices during a Manhattan Dist. Atty probe. If convicted of grand larceny, he could face twenty-fives years in jail.

Diop Mentally Unfit for Trial

Submitted by Michael Nelson on Mon, 01/08/2001 - 01:00

N.Y. State Justice William Leibovitz ruled Dec. 21 that ex-Am. Fed'n of State, County & Municipal Employees Dist. Council 37 boss Albert A. Diop was not mentally fit to stand trial on charges of embezzling more than $1 million from the union's Local 1549. Leibovitz said that Diop was "an incapacitated person" and that he be committed to a state mental hospital. Leibovitz issued his ruling after hearing the reports of two court-appointed psychiatrists. Diop was to go on trial for allegedly stealing money from his local for lavish vacations and personal items.

AFSCME forced Diop to resign for alleged financial misconduct after an audit found $2 million in improper expenditures by Diop, Local 1549 officials James Edey, Lionel Scott and Mary Wilson. The four made more than $1 million in "unexplained payments" and from 1994-98 made almost $1 million credit card purchases for alleged personal expenses. Reportedly, Diop lived in a secret penthouse apartment above union headquarters paid for by the union. He was one of the best paid union bosses in the city, earning $191,000 a year from the local and another $18,000 from AFSCME.

Kansas City Boss Pleads Guilty to Cover Up

Submitted by Michael Nelson on Mon, 12/04/2000 - 01:00

Max E. Biggerstaff, ex-secretary-treasurer of Int'l Ass'n of Fire Fighters Local I-34 in Kansas City, pled guilty Nov. 29 to falsifying union records to conceal embezzlements by him and the local's ex-president. In Aug. 2000, Roger L. Mathisen pled guilty to embezzling $18,404 while president from 1996-98. The embezzlement was uncovered after the local inquired into his financial dealings.

Biggerstaff acknowledged that he had prepared a document in Apr. 1998 that falsely showed that Mathisen had received a $2,159 loan from the local. Mathisen had, in fact, embezzled the funds. Biggerstaff also admitted that he embezzled $2,478 when he was reimbursed for unauthorized mileage, travel and meeting expenses. Biggerstaff was secretary-treasurer from 1995 to 1998. [K.C. Star 11/30/00]

Jury Convicts Diop, Lubin for Fraud

Submitted by Michael Nelson on Mon, 07/31/2000 - 00:00

Two more bosses of the Am. Fed'n of State, County & Mun. Employees' Dist. Council 37 in N.Y. were convicted July 25 on charges that they helped rig a contract ratification vote in 1995. Albert A. Diop, who was AFSCME Local 1549 president, DC37 vice-president and AFSCME int'l vice-president, and Martin Lubin, ex-DC37 associate director, were convicted by a N.Y. jury. Diop faces up to four years in prison and Lubin seven. Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 7. DC37 has suffered over thirty indictments and over twenty guilty pleas in the last two years.

Diop was convicted on charges to defraud and falsify business records. Lubin was convicted on charges to defraud and forgery. While Lubin only was accused of helping rig the ratification votes, Diop has been charged with stealing over $2 million from his local and using a penthouse apartment at DC37 headquarters as a personal residence, while billing the local for rent as a business expense. That trial is scheduled to begin Sept. 17. Reportedly, Diop's annual salary from just Local 1549 was $206,000.

DC37 Clean-Up Offical Charged with Vote Fraud

Submitted by Michael Nelson on Mon, 07/17/2000 - 00:00

Trial testimony has implicated a Manhattan union boss, who is part of the "clean-up" effort in the scandal-scared Am. Fed'n of State, County & Mun. Employees Dist. Council 37, in union vote-fraud scam. Gary R. Tenenbaum, ex-boss of AFSCME Local 299, testified July 10 that Dennis Sullivan, DC37's chief negotiator, helped rig DC37's 1995 contract ratification vote.

Since DC37's embezzlement and vote-fraud scandal erupted in 1998, over thirty have been criminally charged and more than twenty have pled guilty. Yet, Sullivan has remained, helping lead efforts to negotiate a new contract with the Giuliani mayoralty. Sullivan was "so respected" that AFSCME president Gerald W. McEntee's lieutenant running the DC37 administratorship, Lee Saunders, named Sullivan a deputy. He is reportedly one of Saunders' closest aides, but he was also a top aide to DC37's disgraced ex-executive director Stanley Hill. Some consider Sullivan a top candidate to be the next DC37 executive director.

Five More DC37 Indictments

Submitted by Michael Nelson on Mon, 05/22/2000 - 00:00

Four ex-bosses and one ex-staffer of Am. Fed'n of State, County & Mun. Employees Dist. Council 37 were indicted May 10 on charges of misusing union funds. Manhattan Dist. Atty. Robert M. Morgenthau said Eugene Bruno, DC37's chief lobbyist, Lionel Scott and Mary Wilson, who were both DC37 vice-presidents, were indicted on charges of stealing $60,000 by filing expense reports and cashing airline tickets for trips they never took. Scott and Albert A. Diop, also a vice-president, were indicted on charges of having DC37 pay for a $16,000 Alaskan cruise.

Of the four, all but Bruno have been indicted before in the DC37 probe. With the latest round of indictments, over 30 union officials and vendors have faced criminal charges, and over 20 of them have pled guilty.

Dan Castleman, of the DA's Office, said Wilson failed to attend a scheduled court appearance and was considered a fugitive. An investigator who spoke on the condition of anonymity said Wilson was believed to be in Aruba. Diop, who is scheduled to go on trial on June 12 on other corruption and vote-rigging charges, was released. Bail for Bruno was set at $10,000 and Pescatore at $30,000.

Panel's Findings on Corrupt Boss Diop Released

Submitted by Michael Nelson on Mon, 05/10/1999 - 00:00

An AFSCME judicial panel released its corruption findings Apr. 30 on ex-DC37 and Local 1549 boss Albert A. Diop. Here are the reported highlights: Diop had Local 1549 pay $617,398 to rent a Manhattan penthouse from 1991-99. He had the local pay between $1,200 and $1,600 a month for the penthouse's maid service. Despite living in N.Y. City, Diop charged 446 hotel stays in the city (128 on weekends) totaling $162,431. Diop had the local pay almost $135,000 over three years (about $3,750 a month) to lease a Lincoln Town Car while at the same time DC37 paid Diop a monthly auto allowance of $665 a month. His union credit card had $82,269 for cameras and electronic equipment; $23,834 for clothing; $22,829 for jewelry; and $22,251 for pawnshop purchases. Reportedly, the Manhattan Dist. Atty.'s office is conducting further investigations. [N.Y. Times & Newsday 5/1/99] Disturbingly, Diop, also an AFSCME Int'l Vice-President, apparently has not been removed from AFSCME's board.

Boss Diop's Suspension Upheld

Submitted by Michael Nelson on Mon, 03/29/1999 - 01:00

As reported in the last issue, DC37 and Local 1549 boss Albert A. Diop was suspended, with three associates, by AFSCME for undocumented and improper expenditures of union funds. An AFSCME judicial panel upheld the suspensions Mar. 23, and Diop filed for retirement. Reportedly, he will get a $70,000 golden parachute. More troubling however is the fact that Diop, also an AFSCME Int'l Vice-President, apparently has not be removed from AFSCME's board.

AFSCME said that Diop used the union funds to buy personal items totaling about $467,000. He spent $82,000 on camera and audio-visual equipment, $22,000 on jewelry and $23,000 on clothing. He hired maids for his lavish penthouse at DC37's compound for at least $1,200 a month. He spent over $162,000 for stays at N.Y. City hotels, despite residing there. Also, Diop spent $135,000 on a leased Lincoln Town Car and took a $665 monthly car allowance. [N.Y. Post 3/24/99]